When a residential property franchisee has lived in an area for 20 years and has been a Rawson Property Group franchisee there for 10 years, he will almost certainly have become acutely aware of the morale and spirit of his area. This was said recently by Theo Rainers, who is the Rawson Property Group’s franchisee for Strandfontein (which comprises some 6,000 houses in all) and has his management’s permission to sell in neighbouring Mitchell’s Plain, which has possibly 60,000 homes in all and is served by Rawson’s other resident franchisee, Michael Feldsman.
Rainers said that although various negative socio-economic factors in Mitchell’s Plain have received considerable media coverage, it has to be realized that their activities are confined to a few specific areas and generally the prevailing morale and community spirit of the area remains excellent.
“The spirit of this community,” said Rainers, “has always been good – it had to be to survive the forced removals that brought Mitchell’s Plain into existence at the start, taking people from locations where they had often been established for generations and resettling them here.”
Echoing statements recently made by Feldsman, Rainers said that this community spirit and the family ties throughout Mitchell’s Plain have always resulted in people being extremely reluctant to leave the area, even when capable of significant social upgrading, and in many feeling homesick and ‘lost’ once they have done so.
“However, other areas up the line do attract Mitchell’s Plain residents,” said Rainers, “and I expect this trend to remain. It is also true that we are seeing a steady stream of new buyers into the area and of younger people brought up here now getting together the necessary finance to become home owners.”
The good news, said Rainers, is that no matter how you measure it, Mitchell’s Plain house prices, although rising steadily, have remained ‘affordable’ to the lower middle and middle income groups, who comprise some 75% of all Mitchell’s Plain buyers.
In practical terms, said Rainers, this means that right at the bottom of the price scale it is possible to buy an entry level home for as little as R250,000, while at the other end of the scale in areas such as Colorado the buyer may well pay R900,000 or in Pelican Heights R1,5 million or more.
The average price of a Mitchell’s Plain home today is, however, R600,000, which makes it ‘affordable’ to households when the joint income is probably no higher than R17,000 per month.
Also good news, said Rainers, is that he and his three agents continue to sell three or four houses per month and that demand exceeds supply. Furthermore, 70% or more of those applying for bonds through the Rawson Property Group and especially those using Rawson Finance are being approved. A factor helping a great deal here, he said, is that large numbers of Mitchell’s Plain residents are government employees (especially teachers and policemen) or naval staff.
“There have,” said Rainers, “been suggestions that Mitchell’s Plain price rises are set to slow down but I am firmly convinced that nothing of the kind will happen. This area is now the preferred residential place for so many people today that it will be a very long time before the supply meets the demand.”
For further information contact Theo Rainers on 021 393 7456.
