Figures assimilated by Rawson Properties working off the Regional Property Price Ranger and other statistics indicate that buying of Cape residential property by foreigners hit a high point over the 2006/2007 December/January period. What is more, the houses bought by the foreign contingent were priced almost double those of the average Cape home.
Analysing the data presented to him by his groups statistician, Tony Clarke, MD of Rawson Properties, said that in December and January foreign buyers had spent 16,3% on the total residential sales turnover for that period and 7% higher than the same period last year.
'The average price of houses bought by foreigners was R2,7 million. By contrast, the average price of Cape homes sold in the same period was R1,6 million'
This high level of sales, said Clarke, had not been seen since the boom in foreign sales experienced in 2002 prior to the governments moratorium that temporarily wrecked the market for sales to foreigners.
Sellers, added Clarke, should not use these figures as a basis for raising their asking prices because, firstly, unit sales this year are now down by some 12% on last year and, secondly, the foreign buying upswing dwindled markedly in February and March.
Increased tourism to the Western Cape, said Clarke, probably had much to do with the upswing. Figures released by Cape Town Routes Unlimited showed that the number of foreign visitors rose by almost 8% this year, making the Western Cape by far the most popular South African tourist destination. The four most visited venues were the V & A Waterfront (with 22 million visitors in one year), Cape Point, Kirstenbosch and Robben Island.
'The sales and tourism figures are encouraging,' said Clarke, 'and it seems likely now that with 2010 just around the corner next summers property buying by foreigners will hit an all time high - in our group we are preparing for this in various ways - and are excited by the prospects ahead of us'
