Homes in Hermanus, says Peter Greyling, the Rawson Property Group’s franchisee for the area, have a high price tag reputation. Since the 2009/2012 downturn, he says, that reputation is very far from being deserved and is, in fact, highly inaccurate.
“If the truth be told, he said, “Hermanus now offers quite exceptional value at all price levels, but particularly in the upper middle and upper brackets.
“Our team,” said Greyling, “can show the prospective buyer homes in the R2 million to R4 million range which are 30 to 50% lower priced than they were at the peak of the previous boom. Furthermore, such homes are on average priced at half the level of similar quality homes in the central Cape Peninsula suburbs.”
The only way to prove this point, said Greyling, is to give examples. He therefore selected four homes in the R2 million to around R3 million bracket and a further four priced below R2 million.
Homes in middle and upper brackets selected by Greyling were:
· A three bedroom (all en suite) single storey Fernkloof Estate house in an attractive Cape vernacular style. The price is R2,950,000 (Fernkloof Estate abuts the Hermanus golf course).
· A Chanteclair home with six bedrooms, four bathrooms and three large reception rooms linking to a wraparound balcony which has its own built-in braai facility. The price here is again exceptionally low at R2,995,000.
· A Voëlklip home with four bedrooms, a study and four reception rooms priced at R2,695,000. Voëlklip is one of the most prestigious areas in the entire Hermanus town.
In the sub-R2 million category Greyling mentioned a Sandbaai home (R1,495,000), two Onrus homes (priced at R1,295,000 and R1,495,000) and a three bedroom, two bathroom apartment in the Hermanus Beach Club priced at R800 000.
Hermanus, said Greyling, although a relatively small town, has all the facilities of a big city as well as the advantage of being less than two hours’ drive from Cape Town. The facilities include a big, recently upgraded provincial hospital, several private clinics and a very active local medical fraternity, several excellent retirement villages, big regional Woolworths, Pick ‘n Pay, Checkers and Spar shopping chain stores, government and private schools (in the second category they now have one of the renowned Curro schools), a top rated 27 hole golf course, a small boat harbour, 20 km of beaches, excellent fishing spots, mountain trails (some in the proclaimed Fernkloof Reserve) and a very low crime rate.
Over the years, visitors to Hermanus all experienced the extreme traffic problems during the peak holiday periods. That has all but disappeared after the main R43 provincial road into the town was doubled from Sandbaai to the Gateway Centre, completed in September this year.
“All these factors put together,” said Greyling, “have ensured that Hermanus has been able to retain its status as a number one Cape Town getaway town.”
Greyling added, however, that a warning had to be given to potential buyers that, although the market is currently in his opinion way below value, there are definite signs that it is swinging back in favour of sellers. Stock is becoming in short supply in some suburbs and he believes that prices will escalate by some 15 to 20% before the end of 2014.
