Market to remain stable; even promising for Seeff’s branches in the Garden Route and Eastern C

Market to remain stable; even promising for Seeff’s branches in the Garden Route and Eastern C

Category News

Even though most experts agree that the economic and housing market conditions in South Africa have been delicate over the past year and will remain to be for the immediate future, many of Seeff’s branches in the Garden Route and Eastern Cape are flourishing and are well on track to achieve much the same or even slightly higher sales figures than last year.

Seeff Plettenberg Bay for instance has experienced a record year in terms of sales as at the end of September 2016 and sold properties in excess of R10 million and up to R32 million in areas like Beachy Head, Whale Rock Ridge and the Lookout Beach area, Seeff Knysna has made the most expensive sale on Thesen Island to date this year and while the most active segment of the market remains in property priced below R1.5 million, branches like Oudtshoorn and Mossel Bay have also sold properties exceeding the R5 million mark.

Most branches in the Garden Route are experiencing semigration from especially buyers in the Northern parts of the country looking to relocate to the coast and these buyers are quite often cash buyers. In fact there are so many cash buyers in a town like Mossel Bay for instance that around 70% of all transactions taking place here are cash transactions. This branch is also experiencing increased sales volumes of up to 80% this year compared to last year.

The majority of buyers in Plettenberg Bay - in particular the high priced segment of the market – are also cash buyers. These buyers are extremely selective and knowledgeable of the market and make sound investment decisions.

In general the property market in the Garden Route remains healthy and predictions are rosy as the reasons for buying property at the coast will still be in place next year. House prices are predicted to remain stable in 2017, while some areas like Mossel Bay are even expecting some house price growth in especially the first quarter of 2017.

Seeff’s branches in the Eastern Cape say while the most active price range here is between R800 000 and R1.2 million, there is also activity taking place in the more expensive price ranges, although not as much as last year when sales of R12 million and R10. 9 million were concluded in PE and Kenton on Sea &Port Alfred respectively.

While most buyers in the Garden Route purchase holiday or retirement homes, many buyers in PE are first time home buyers and buyers investing in Kenton on sea & Port Alfred are either from up North, Cape Town, surrounding farming areas or parents of students and children at schools in Grahamstown.

While a lot of the properties in Kenton on Sea & Port Alfred are holiday homes and recent political disturbances have somewhat softened the demand for second homes, this branch still predicts their market share to grow in 2017. PE predicts average house prices in their area to increase by around 6-8%.

Both these branches conclude that their market will remain stable for both buyers and sellers in the New Year.

Author: Seeff