Although rapid residential property price rise stories have been rolling off the press almost weekly for over two years now, it is possible, says Alisdair Crofton, the Rawson Property Group’s franchisee for Cape Town CBD, that the performance of the large luxurious freestanding homes of his area (Oranjezicht, Vredehoek, Higgovale and Gardens) has outstripped those of almost all other Cape Town property.
Almost all the homes in the area, added Crofton, have seen their values double in the last five years, but the fastest rises have always been experienced on homes which have character, sea and mountain views and off-street parking and garaging.
The type of sought after homes he has described, said Crofton, fall into two main categories: the older houses, some of which date back to the Victorian era but almost all of which have usually been upgraded fairly regularly, and the more modern homes built in the last two decades, which as often as not have considerable architectural merit and are definitely among the frontrunners in Cape Town for design innovation. Many of the homes in the area, he said, have been featured in upmarket lifestyle magazines and the area’s architects have garnered numerous awards.
In the current situation, said Crofton, the owners of such homes are usually very reluctant to sell. They may well – they often do – agree to a free valuation and they will usually be impressed by the prices achievable today. However, on reflection they will realize that they have come to appreciate the CBD more and more on account of its cosmopolitan lifestyle and its closeness to the beaches, mountains, the city’s action spots, whether commercial or extramural, and so they decide they do not want to leave, even when they get older.
“One of the things that struck me soon after I started working in this area,” said Crofton, “is how amazingly international it has become. When one canvasses for a property one finds oneself time and again dealing with Germans, French, Italian, British and Asian owners and residents – and it has to be said that they very often give a certain sophisticated, exotic flavour to the CBD lifestyle.”
Asked whether the sectional title units for rent in the CBD area are as sought after and successful as the freestanding homes, Crofton said that their popularity continues to grow and in the last two years it has been greatly boosted by the increasing numbers of UCT students who live here. They have often come because of the shortage and high prices of rentals in the central Cape Peninsula suburbs.
Almost invariably, he said, they find the CBD units exceptionally convenient especially for travelling to or from the UCT campuses as they are always going in the opposite direction to the morning and evening traffic flow. This means that UCT for most of them is not more than 15 or 20 minutes away (including the time they take to locate parking).
For further information contact Rawson Property Group Cape Town CBD franchise on 021 462 2116.
