Foreign property buyers eye SA to escape their lockdown blues

Seeff has clinched over R178 million in sales to foreign buyers across the Atlantic Seaboard and City Bowl alone over the last four months alone, including a luxury villa in Fresnaye sold in December for R36 million to a buyer from Dubai. The property will be their holiday home.

Ross Levin, managing director for Seeff Atlantic Seaboard and City Bowl says there has been a notable uptick in the market including demand from foreign buyers, especially from the European countries which have experienced hard lockdowns and are in their winter months.

We have seen several of those citizens flock particularly to Cape Town to enjoy the summer months here and have also seen a massive influx of clientele from the African continent, high net-worth Nigerians in particular, he adds. This has mainly impacted the short term rental market of luxury properties.

Sales to foreign buyers included the UK, Switzerland, China, Malaysia, Italy, the USA, the UAE, Nigeria and Greece but enquiries are coming from across the board including Northern European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and more.

Other high value transactions include three sales in Camps Bay, being R17.7m to a buyer from the USA, R19.5m to a buyer from Malaysia and R21.5m to a buyer from the USA.

The latest sales statistics for the Atlantic Seaboard and City Bowl also show that there has been a general uptick in sales to foreign buyers in December with these representing about 20% of all transactions compared to just 7% for the previous two months, being October and November.

According to an FNB property report, sales to foreign buyers (non-residents) amounted to around 4.7% of all sales for the second quarter of 2020. Coastal areas and lifestyle and golf estates are often favoured by foreign buyers. They do not just buy for own use, many of them invest in properties for the rental market as well.

There has been a welcome uptick in the market across the Atlantic Seaboard and City Bowl for full title houses in the R10 million to R20 million price range and sectional title below R5 million, he says. Aside from foreign buyers, we have also seen an increase in sales to semigration buyers, especially from Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

Seeff has concluded a number of high value sales including the sale of two properties to the same buyer for R33 million, and a Bantry Bay apartment sold for R20.2 million.

South Africa is a beautiful country with a quality lifestyle and excellent climate. Cape Town along with many of its tourist attractions have been voted among the most popular in the world and you can find a spectacular location to suit your lifestyle here.

Mr Levin also says that agents expect that once there is a return to normalcy with borders and travel open, there will be a notable further pickup in demand from foreigners who, not unlike South Africans, will be looking to spread their wings and enjoy a better quality lifestyle.

The Seeff Property Group has also seen a welcome return of interest from foreign buyers in many other areas, especially coastal hot spots such as the Cape coastal areas, the Garden Route and all the way up to the KZN North Coast and even the South Coast.