Further evidence that Paarl residential property prices are rising steadily and that while demand is increasing in the lower price brackets, there has also been a marked shift upwards in the higher price brackets says Lizette Joubert, the Rawson Property Group’s franchisee for Paarl.
Joubert, who now been the Rawson Property Group’s Paarl franchisee for 10 years and who has been selected to receive the group’s Chairman’s Award in the past, is now employing an impressive 12 agents.
In 2012, she said, 38% of her team’s sales were under R1 million, 50% in the R1 million to R2 million bracket and 10% above R2 million. In 2014, 54% of her sales were under R1 million, 34% in the R1 million to R2 million bracket and 12% above R2 million. These figures might seem to convey the message that the trend has been towards the less expensive properties – but, said Joubert, in the same two year period her overall turnover rose by 41% and this was only possible because of ongoing sales in the higher price brackets.
“The big increase in the sub-R1 million bracket,” she said, “was due to our establishing a satellite office in Paarl East. That alone could, however, never have given us so big an upturn in turnover. This came about because our turnovers in the upper brackets also increased noticeably and Paarl buyers did adjust their thinking and start favouring the higher price brackets more than they have done in the past. What this means is that in the middle bracket, our actual turnover rose by 14% and in the higher bracket by 16%.”
The Paarl East office, said Joubert, soon found that there was among the least affluent of the Paarl community ‘a very strong hunger’ to become home owners. The encouraging thing, she said, is that in those two years they have greatly increased in their sophistication and in their knowledge of the property market and this in turn has resulted in their understanding better the criteria on which banks issue loans.
“We do still get cases where the applicants try to hide certain credit impairments but of course these are always picked up by credit investigations. On the whole, however, these buyers understand the market far better than they did before.”
“With buyers now showing a greater interest in Paarl property, the challenge facing all agents in the area in 2015 will be to find stock and when we do obtain stock, if it is accurately priced, we invariably sell it within five to six weeks. We have seen correctly priced properties sold within a week of being listed,” said Joubert.
Asked to what she attributes the on-going success of her franchise, Joubert said that she had tried from the outset to inculcate the idea that loyalty to the client is as important as loyalty to the employer.
“We see ourselves as long term operators and we know therefore that one displeased client can influence a great many others. We always strive to keep all clients satisfied with the service they are receiving.”
For further information contact Lizette Joubert on 021 872 8385 or email her at paarl@rawsonproperties.com.
