The ever popular Western Cape south coast town of Knysna had just over 300,000 visitors during the last summer holiday season and in years gone by this would have boosted the property market significantly. It may, therefore, surprise people to know that Peter Southey, the Rawson Property Group’s Knysna franchisee, reports that the area (“although people are not yet fully aware of this”) is still very much operating as a buyer’s market.
Good market conditions (from the buyer’s viewpoint) have been in place for a great many years – by Southey’s estimate since 2008, following the price crash at the beginning of that year. At various stages since then, says Southey, prices have picked up, but Knysna is still an area in which, in his opinion, “incredibly good value” is available for any type of housing.
These days, says Southey, he estimates that the average value of homes sold in his area is R2 million. His team in fact sold five homes in April, mostly in this price bracket.
It is still possible occasionally, says Southey, to find homes for as little as R800,000 and many young families and pensioners have cashed in on the low priced homes available. Right now he has a two bedroom home in the suburbs on the market at R995,000 and he says price increases in this coastal town, although now evident, are not yet in line with the latest house price inflation, which FNB has recently put at 5%.
The sellers most likely to wait a long time to find a buyer, adds Southey, are those who own the expensive homes for which Knysna is well known. With the exception of the very expensive homes in Thesen Island and Leisure Island, which continue to find buyers through thick and thin times, most homes above R4 million are likely, he says, to remain on the books for another year or two. Thesen Island and Leisure Island are in fact experiencing a shortage of stock and are very much experiencing a seller’s market.
For further information contact Peter Southey on 044 382 4961/2 or peter@rawsonknysna.co.za
