Estate agents in the Constantia Valley in Cape Town have repeatedly said that the market for residential property there continues to improve steadily – and has been doing so for over a year now. This is not just sales hype but it is the plain truth, says Sandy Dicey, of the Rawson Properties Constantia and Wynberg franchise, which is owned and run by Eugene Pienaar.
“It is common knowledge,” said Dicey, “that our franchise has had a good 2011 and is now having an even better 2012. What is more, we are getting feedback from other agencies indicating that they too are experiencing steady growth. Prices are not rising yet, but they have very definitely stabilized at the lower level that they hit in 2011. Sales, on the other hand, are now steadily improving.”
Quoting statistics drawn up by her sales colleague Gerald Romanovsky (a MBA graduate), Dicey said that in the last 16 months, 96 properties were sold in Upper Constantia alone and these had a total value of R456,816,000. The average price for Upper Constantia sales in the R4 million to R10 million brackets, (i.e. excluding those sold at the higher price levels where sales were fairly slow), was R5, 5 million and the time that they typically took to find a buyer was just on six months.
“These figures,” said Romanovsky, “are all a big improvement on the situation 24 months ago and they indicate pretty clearly that if your aim is to buy in Constantia, now is the time to make a move. It is highly unlikely that today’s very reasonable prices will ever be seen again.”
Dicey, Romanovsky and Pienaar focus on the Upper Constantia market, including Constantia Rural. Although, as indicated, sales here have been satisfactory and their report shows that the really big demand has been in Lower Constantia, especially for homes selling at R2 million to R4 million, where buyers are often found within the first two months of a home being listed. Here, said Dicey, owners traditionally stayed only four to eight years before moving on to Upper Constantia. Now that money is tight they tend to stay for longer periods and spend whatever spare cash they do have on improving their homes.
“In Upper Constantia, as Romanovsky’s figures show, steady sales have been achieved in the R4 million to R6 million bracket. In most cases these, however, took place at an average discount of 16% on the original asking price,” said Dicey. “In the higher brackets, i.e. above R10 million, sales have been very slow indeed. On at least one occasion a show house in this bracket priced at R15 million, attracted no more than one visitor on the day. “This situation, however,” Dicey predicted, “will change by the middle of 2013 because the value on offer here is ‘superb’.”
Asked to identify four good buys in Upper Constantia right now, Dicey pointed to
- A two homes in one opportunity on a 2,000 m2erf in Strawberry Lane. Here the asking price is ‘a very reasonable’ R5, 995,000. This is already a 10% reduction on the price originally proposed by the seller. Both homes on this property are double storey and have large reception rooms. They also have two bedrooms each, which are en suite. Both have been designed in a style reminiscent of a French Provençal mas. The larger home has two garages, a swimming pool and is air conditioned.
- A very luxurious double storey slate roof ‘mansion’ in a tranquil garden with old oak trees in Willowbrook Lane. Again the erf size is 2,000 m2. The house here is priced at R13,8 million and has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a swimming pool, two garages, a bore hole, an automatic irrigation system, air conditioning throughout, under floor heating and very opulent finishes.
- ‘A real bargain’ at R3, 995,000 in Ladies Mile Extension, which, for those unfamiliar with Constantia, is very close to the main retail centre in Constantia, Constantia Village. This L-shaped, low profile single storey ranch style home has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, dining, living and study areas. It also has a large pool and a massive palm tree in the centre of the garden. Capital appreciation on a home at this level, said Dicey, is absolutely inevitable and makes it a very good buy indeed.
- A home in Brommersvlei Road. This again is slate roofed and has seven bedrooms, two of which are en suite, three reception rooms, a north-facing enclosed all-weather entertainment area and a pool with a beautifully cared for garden. The asking price here is R6, 250,000, which, said Dicey, is probably some 25% off what such a home would have achieved before the 2009 slump in residential prices. Again, she said, the capital appreciation potential here is tremendous.
Summing up what is on offer in Constantia, Dicey said that in all cases the homes have maintained their rural feel and atmosphere and in all cases, the designs, although often traditional, are very attractive.
