The long awaited recovery in Western Cape residential property, which was very hard hit by the 2008/2009 recession (because a high proportion of the stock here is holiday and retirement homes) appears to be becoming a reality – at last.
The Rawson Property Group’s Langebaan franchisee, Emil Weiss, said that although there had only been sporadic interest in home buying in December, January saw him and his team fielding three or four times as many enquiries as they did last year. These, he said, came in from all over South Africa - often via email and in response to various websites.
“We have been very pleasantly surprised to find how many people, as far afield as Limpopo and Mpumalanga, already know a great deal about Langebaan – and have it listed as a possible retirement area.
“Almost all of our enquiries have been serious and by mid-February, in view of what is now in the pipeline, we expect sales to rise significantly.”
Most of the enquirers, added Weiss, had shown an interest in homes priced from R1,4 million to R1,8 million and almost all are aware that these are still available at 20 to 30% discounts on their former peak 2007 levels. Nevertheless, he said, many of Rawson Langebaan’s sales have been either above or below the price bracket mentioned. For example, a plot in the Langebaan Golf Estate was recently sold for only R120,000 and other plots have gone for approximately R250,000.
“The eight gated security estates in and around Langebaan are still offering land and homes at very reasonable prices.”
In general, said Weiss, the value to be had in Langebaan at the moment is excellent. For R1,5 million, it is still possible to buy a 200m² or 250m² home with lagoon or bay views at around R1 million and there are many excellent opportunities in lock-up-and-go apartments and townhouses which would suit the occasional visitor very well.
Potential buyers who have come to Langebaan hoping to find bargain opportunities as a result of homes being liquidated or repossessed, are now finding that there is very little stock of this kind left. It has, says Weiss, been steadily taken up and even vacant plots are now not as plentiful as they were.
Shrewd long-term investors, he added, are now moving in anticipation of steady price rises, once the R84 billion set aside for the new local Industrial Development Zone starts to flow into the area. This fact has been well publicised by local agents but it cannot be over-emphasised.
“Although the Industrial Development Zone is a long-term project, scheduled to take possibly 20 years, the related influx of over 12,000 people to the area will transform Langebaan’s economic prospects,” said Weiss. “We are already seeing big businesses buying much of the available commercial land.”
A similarly optimistic report was received from the Rawson Property Group’s Yzerfontein franchise which is owned by David and Anne-Marie Evans. At Yzerfontein, the senior agent, Marijanne van Nieuwenhoven, and her team, sold three houses in December and by mid-January sold another three. These were sold, on average, at above R2 million.
Local agents, said van Nieuwenhoven, have already publicised the fact that they are now selling with unprecedented success and there is a lively interest in vacant plots priced from R250,000 to R1,875,000.
Apart from its attractive small fishing boat harbour, its spectacularly long beach, its cliff-top walks and social clubs, Yzerfontein, said van Nieuwenhoven, has the major benefit of being almost crime free. With only one access road, which is guarded around the clock, this, she said, is one of the few villages in South Africa where people are still able to live without being surrounded by high walls.
“In today’s South Africa people feel, quite rightly, that this is a blessing and a benefit for which they are prepared to pay.”
