The secure gated villages to the west of Hermanus, on average five kilometres from the centre of the town, have been seeing fast on-going sales for at least three to six months now — with the result that the market here has swung in favour of the seller, says Peter Greyling, the Rawson Property Group’s franchisee for Hermanus.
“Unlike many of the homes in or nearer to Hermanus, the majority of homes here are not expensive and, being in secure gated estates, offer the big advantage of giving protection to the residents. This makes them suitable for buyers who are looking for a lock-up-and-go lifestyle or a holiday unit which they can leave empty for much of the year. Many of the buyers are retirees or people planning to retire soon.”
The prices of such homes, says Greyling, are now anything from R750,000 to R1,75 million. Typically they will have two or three bedrooms, will be freestanding and have fairly spacious inter-leading living, dining and kitchen areas. Being in a seller’s market, says Greyling, clients putting their homes up for sale can expect a quick response provided that the price is realistic. On one home listed in the Tambali Village complex in Sandbaai at 12 noon, Greyling received an offer by 7 p.m. the same day and this was accepted at 8:30 a.m. the next morning.
In another example, a sale this week in the upmarket Hemel en Aarde estate of a two bedroom, two bathroom home with top class finishes and central air conditioning was sold for cash for the full listing price of R1,75 million within three weeks of going on the market.
In general, said Greyling, to the west of Hermanus, homes in the price bracket quoted are now selling within six to eight weeks and, in view of the rising prices here, any purchase tends to be a good one.
“Bill Rawson, the Rawson Property Group Chairman, has on numerous occasions advised sellers not to put their homes on the market at inflated prices. Sellers who forward the marketing advice of experienced agents have found that they sell their homes in very short periods,” said Greyling.
Asked for his opinion of the market for the more expensive homes at Hermanus, i.e. those priced from R2 million upwards, Greyling said that his team has an impressive number of these on their stock list but, although potential buyers are nibbling, at the moment very little decisive forward movement is evident.
“I have,” said Greyling, “in the past asserted that homes in these upper brackets offer exceptionally good value at the moment — and this I feel is a fact worth repeating.
“The swallows (overseas visitors) are once again arriving here in large numbers and it is only a matter of time before a certain percentage of these will again respond to the excellent value offered to anyone paying in euros, pounds or dollars and will once again be buying here.”
For further information contact Peter Greyling on 028 313 1870 or email peter.greyling@rawson.co.za.
