R220 000 Sea Point rental sets record price

A SEA Point rental agent who recently concluded a lease for R220 000 a month on a house in Bantry Bay says it was a one-off.

According to FNB Household and Property Sector strategist John Loos, the Western Cape’s cumulative house price inflation has come in at 53.7% compared to the KwaZuluNatal’s 30%, the Eastern Cape’s 26.6% and Gauteng’s 24.7%.

Dogon Property Group rental agent Mick Brandt, who recently concluded the lease agreement for the Bantry Bay property, said that in 12 years of working in the sector he had never concluded a deal of such magnitude.

The same company also recently concluded an eye-watering R450 000 a month lease for a Constantia estate. The company would not reveal pictures of either location over security concerns.

“Prices like this, we don’t achieve. The property was not even on the market when it got snapped up because the lessor really wanted it.”

He said that on average, rentals on the Atlantic Seaboard, which stretches from De Waterkant to Hout Bay, ranged from R20 000 a month for a one-bedroomed apartment to R100 000 a month for a four- or five-bedroomed house.

“It’s the luck of the draw to get such high prices, especially from the overseas market.

“There are a lot of variables. It’s not always that high and it depends on where you look,” said Brandt.

Seeff Property managing director for the Atlantic Seaboard and City Bowl Ian Slot said the R220 000 lease agreement was not “out of the ballpark” and it would be right at the top-end of the property market.

“Most people at this level of the market are locals, people with longterm commitments in South Africa… It’s not the holiday market, overseas people who come here for a few months a year.”

The V&A Waterfront, Clifton and Bantry Bay were the areas with the highest demand for top-end properties. “At one stage there was a fair amount of stock at the top end of the market.

“Right now there’s not so much, so they get snapped up quite quickly.”