One of the big surprises of the Eastern Cape property scene this year has been the way in which housing in the low cost northern suburbs, such as: Gelvandale, Cleary Park and Bethelsdorp, has become much in demand and is selling steadily.
Bradley Murray, who since December last year has been the Rawson Property Group’s franchise principal for these areas (along with the rest of Port Elizabeth), said that a very high percentage of his current sales are taking place here and his eight person team are achieving sales of six to ten homes per month in the area. What is more, he said, he is confident that this can be increased to 15 per month by the end of this year.
The demand, said Murray, is coming mostly from young 25 to 35 year old couples who are now earning far more than their parents ever did and who appreciate the benefits of gaining a foothold on the property ladder.
Although Murray feels this will change by the end of the year, at present, he said, the demand has not pushed up prices.
“The vast majority of the homes we sell here are in the R200,000 to R800,000 bracket and are freestanding homes with two or three bedrooms – we have relatively few sectional title units in this area.”
Any correctly priced home in the northern suburbs, said Murray, will usually sell within five to six weeks.
Another impressive aspect of the current property scene, added Murray, is the way in which existing homes are being upgraded and given such ‘extras’ as fully planted and beautifully landscaped gardens, garages and swimming pools. Ten years ago, he said, these were almost never seen in the northern suburbs.
Also surprising to some, said Murray, has been the very high percentage (over 80%) of the Rawson Property Group’s buyers qualifying for 100% bonds. This, he said, is due to he and his team always going through a careful three week pre-qualifying exercise with buyers which enables them to weed out those with poor credit or employment records.
Tony Clarke, Managing Director of the Rawson Property Group, has commented that the way in which this franchise has become the dominant force among Port Elizabeth’s northern suburbs agencies in just half a year is remarkable and, apart from the dynamism of Murray himself, is partly due to the franchise being the only agency with a fully-fledged office in Korsten. This office, he said, is passed daily by virtually all the public transport in the area.
