The housing market in the Jeffrey’s Bay area on the South Cape Coast just 70 km from Port Elizabeth, has picked up noticeably since the beginning of the holiday season last year, says Billy van Loggerenberg, who, with his wife Sonja, is co-franchisee for the Rawson Property Group in Jeffrey’s Bay.
“As we all know, coastal, and particularly holiday, properties throughout South Africa saw a massive drop in value during the recent recession. However, in Jeffrey’s Bay this is now rapidly becoming a thing of the past,” said van Loggerenberg.
Since early December last year he has sold four homes and one plot. The plot was priced at R400,000 and the homes were priced between R800,000 and R4,5 million. Right now, he adds, he and Sonja are well down the line in processing a sale of R15 million and this is likely to be concluded by the end of May.
The number of sales achieved, said van Loggerenberg, is more than double what he was able to do in the same period last year and, he adds, sales could continue at a good rate because, traditionally, those who make enquiries in the December/January period return for another holiday break and this year he had up to three enquiries per day during the March/April holiday period. When such people come back in winter, they very often sign the deal.
At the moment, says van Loggerenberg, Jeffrey’s Bay still has ample stock (his franchise has over 200 homes on their list here) but the good news is that there are very few repossessed homes on the market, and since that source of supply has dried up, prices across the board have risen noticeably – by at least by 10%, he estimates.
Furthermore, says van Loggerenberg, any time this year the government is likely to give the go-ahead to the already approved nuclear power station at Oyster Bay, just 40 km away.
“This will definitely boost housing in the Jeffrey’s Bay area”, he said, “because we are told that 800 technical staff will be employed there and will need permanent homes.”
Although Jeffrey’s Bay is known countrywide for its luxury residences, (e.g. those at Marina Martinique, and these are often priced at above R4 million), much of the other local stock is priced inexpensively - from R800,000 to R1,2 million - and prices here, although rising, are still “very reasonable indeed”, said van Loggerenberg.
“Anyone who has stayed here will realise why we have complete confidence in the Jeffrey’s Bay area. Very few other areas in South Africa can offer such a pleasant lifestyle, as well as easy access to the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve, Langkloof and many Cape coastal towns.”
