The Western Cape has some of the most beautiful scenery in the world and property in the province is incredibly popular. David Britz visits the Afternoon Express studio to chat about property and estate living in the Western Cape.
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Presenter: A warm welcome back to Win a Home on Afternoon Express on this Friday afternoon. Now, Private Property has treated us to some really fantastic property advice on Afternoon Express over this fourth season of Win A Home and today is no exception. The Western Cape has some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, and property in the province is incredibly popular. Today, we have David Britz, joining us in The Loft, who is going to chat and tell us a little bit more about the property and estate market in the Western Cape. Welcome to The Loft, David.
David Britz: Thank you, Dan.
Presenter: So let's quickly understand where the property market is in the Western Cape. I've had the privilege of living there, and property is so expensive. Is it still profitable? Is it still an investment? Where are we at?
David Britz: Yeah, then definitely Cape Town is obviously one of the most expensive metropoles in South Africa. Latest stats show that property in Cape Town is on average R400,000 more expensive than any other metropole at the moment. So measuring at a price of R1.4 million for an average house, there is a difference of R400,000 between Cape Town and any of the other--
Presenter: And the next competitor.
David Britz: Yeah. Yeah, definitely.
Presenter: So it's a very popular area, clearly. So what does that mean for the property market? Is it a good investment, bad investment?
David Britz: Yeah. Well, definitely. If you go look at the stats on FNB, they show over the last four to five years, all right, Cape Town property grow by-- I think it's 53.7%, all right, over the last five year. And the closest metropole is KwaZulu-Natal of 30.2%.
Presenter: So just under 20% higher growth in the next metropole.
David Britz: Yeah, and Gauteng only coming in fourth place on 24.7%. So that gives you a good indication where Cape Town is at the moment versus the other metropoles.
David Britz: Yeah. Obviously, there's a huge demand because it's a small surface area, one of the most beautiful places in the world. And it's not like Cape Town can go anywhere because either you grow into the sea or you grow into Table Mountain. I was driving through Camps Bay and, I mean, you mentioned how sort of dense the area is. There was a piece of land that was not even bigger than sort of a hectare or 10 hectares or something, that was going for a billion South African rand from the city of Cape Town.
[crosstalk]. Yeah, that's actually five hectares that the city of Cape Town sold for a billion rand. it was recently in an article, yes.
Presenter: So space is important, I think, for people, and that's maybe why people are starting to look at properties that are expanding outside of just the Cape Town, sort of City Bowl area.
David Britz: Yeah. No, definitely. If you look at the northern suburbs, especially you look at Val De Vie, I think Val De Vie, in my opinion, is one of the best estates in South Africa. Then you get Anna Clara Fontein, recently launched by Robbie, also a very, very nice estate. And then you get your middle class, I would say middle upmarket class estates like the Sitari Country Estate on your way to Somerset West. Acorn Creek, for instance, recently launched by MSP. Yeah, then you get your estates that cater for your first-time home buyers as well as your young and upcoming professionals who are buying. And there you will look at your [Billionaire Estate?}, for instance, I think [Billionaire Estate?] was launched in 2006, and Buh-Rein Estate launched towards the end of 2010. Obviously, that is also doing very well. It's also very, very attractive to investors, all right, because of your ROI, return on investment you get there. I can't tell you the type of [inaudible] they will get, and the amount for rent there is pretty high.
Presenter: Yeah, so If you're serious about looking at the property market, in particular in the Western Cape, you should be serious about looking into estates. A lot of them are moving towards the Cape Winelands areas, first of all, because they're just incredibly stunning and I think people are realizing, "I'd rather drive a little bit further into work in town if I need to, as long as I can come home to a beautiful view in the afternoon and the evening to enjoy that lifestyle."
David Britz: Yeah, they definitely are. I think a new trend in lifestyle estates is the typical work, live, play type of thing. I mean, they're after the lifestyle, but I think the biggest driver behind all these estates is security, all right. We all know [crosstalk] in South Africa, security is key for you and your family.
Presenter: As you drive further afield, I mean, you get to the beautiful Garden Route, nice near Mossel Bay, and everyone seems to be buying into that relaxed lifestyle out there.
David Britz: Yeah, then I think Mossel Bay and George has always been a very popular holiday destination, especially for the valley sort of people up north. So yeah, they like to invest in the estates like Fancourt. Fancourt recently came second in the top 10 golf estate competition, South Africa, followed by Pinnacle Point, they came in at fifth prize. And then you get the Pezulas, all right, Simola's there. Yes, there's a couple of nice estates in that area, and definitely, a very, very high in-demand area is George and, obviously, Knysna.
Presenter: So the Western Cape property market is doing well. Put your money into it, but put it into estates because that's going to continue to expand and grow.
David Britz: Definitely. Definitely, yes.
Presenter: David, thank you.
David Britz: Thank you.
Presenter: Well, there you have it. The lowdown on what's happening in the property market in the Western Cape.
Now, don't forget to enter the Win A Home grand prize competition on Private Property to stand a chance to win your choice of the three multi-million rand homes as completed by our design duos on the Eye of Africa Estate in Johannesburg.
Now, this weekend is your last chance to enter, as the competition closes at midnight this coming Sunday the 29th of October. So, don't wait another minute, log on to www.privateproperty.co.za, answer an easy question, and then vote for your favorite design duo. It's as easy as that, and you could be the lucky viewer who wins their own dream home. Now, coming up after the break, the judges take a look around those lounges and make their final verdicts.
