Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Sky-high prices prompt ‘feeding frenzy’ on Cape Town’s Atlantic seaboard
HYPE around the recent sale of a home in Nettleton Road in Clifton for R110 million and the listing of a Camps Bay property for R450m has sent sellers in the area into a frenzy, prompting one to turn down a full price offer of R65 000/m² on his Clifton apartment and hike the price to R75 000/m².
That’s the word from Dennis Hamer, owner of the Harcourts Atlantic franchise, who says: “In this instance the seller’s argument is that there are only a handful of units on the market in Clifton for less than R10m.
“He believes he will achieve the higher price this summer and that his expectations are not unrealistic – and with only 269 sectional-title units in total in Clifton, the market might just prove him right.”
Meanwhile, he says, Harcourts Atlantic is marketing a “bargain” property in Nettleton Road for R39m – a price that must be seen against land in the same street that is on the market for R55m.
“Prices here are being driven by the extremely limited supply of land between mountain and sea – and the construction of showpiece homes to rival those of other famous coastlines.
“Similarly in Camps Bay, where last year you could still find a solid home for around R7m, there are now really very few full-title homes available at under R10m, and developers are keen to acquire those that do become available for redevelopment into luxury sectional-title complexes with two to four units.”
Hamer says another illustration of the market heat all along the Atlantic seaboard is the recent sale for R14.5m of a redevelopment plot in Green Point that was originally listed at R10.5m.
“And even one- bedroom apartments in Sea Point and Green Point are now frequently selling for more than R2m – which equates to R30 000/m². In fact, a 10-year-old apartment in Green Point was recently sold for R58 000/m².”
As for entry-level properties along this coastline, he says, the most affordable bachelor apartments are now priced at around R1.2m in Sea Point and R4.5m in Clifton.
“In other parts of Cape Town the same money can buy a substantial property, so clearly, buyers on the Atlantic seaboard are also willing to sacrifice size for location and lifestyle, and that is another factor that continues to put upward pressure on prices here.”