The Rawson Property Group’s franchisee for the Cape West Coast towns of Vredenburg and Saldanha, Raylene Fredericks, reports that the number of enquiries, being fielded by herself and her four agents this year, has been almost exactly double what was experienced in the last half of 2011.
Fredericks attributes this big upswing in demand to the towns’ being focal points of major industries which are being expanded, staff consistently being drafted in and out of the area. There is, therefore, a constant demand here for accommodation, she says.
“Although their new projects will only be operational in 2013”, she said, “we do know that Transnet will be expanding their port, LPG gas will be building a new plant and Saldanha Steel has committed itself to a big expansion - all of which will be initiated by 2014.”
“At present,” said Fredericks, “the big call is for rented premises.” Her franchise, she says, does run a rental portfolio, but the fact that recently, in eight weeks, her team was able to sell six properties indicates that, after the drastic price drops of 2009 to 2011, the sales market is now bottoming out. From here on out, she predicts it will be a great deal more stable - although she concedes that there are still some distress sales on the market which could bring down average prices.
Prices in the area she serves, says Fredericks, remain among the lowest in the entire Western Cape: Saldanha residential property is going for around R600 000 and Vredenburg homes on average go for about R775 000. “Lower prices than this are almost impossible to find in the Western Cape,” she says. Vacant plots are especially well priced right now. Plots in her area often sell for as little as R175 000.
“There are many exceptions to this, however”, says Fredericks, “homes in Shelley Point cannot be had for less than R1 million and beachfront property throughout our territory is still priced at around R1, 5 million. However, even these are much reduced in relation to previous prices, for example, at St. Helena Bay, it is now possible to buy a vacant beachfront plot for around R150 000 - an excellent long term investment.”
