Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
PRIVATE AND EXCLUSIVE
There are no shops, no street lights, and with only one entrance road to the area, Llandudno offers homeowners security and views of unspoilt beauty from luxury homes set in the side of a mountain
CLINGING to the side of a steep mountain, its small beach at its feet, the exclusive seaside residential suburb of Llandudno can be accessed only by one road guarded by security officers.
Its enviable position offers homeowners glorious views of the Atlantic Ocean, and a lack of street lights and shops ensures its elite status.
It is named after a resort in North Wales. Llandudno means “Parish of Saint Tudno” in the Welsh language, and apparently there are similarities between the two which led to this.
Given its location along Cape Town’s Platinum Mile – “Platinum 12km” just doesn’t have the same ring to it – and with only 321 houses, Llandudno’s property prices are among the highest in the area. Lightstone stats indicate buyers tend to be older, and they stay longer.
There have been six sales in the past 12 months, according to Lightstone. The median selling price of a home in Llandudno is R15.65 million, and house prices have been steadily increasing since 2008, when the median price was R11.7m.
The market is fairly stable and impervious to price fluctuations seen in other areas, says Pam Golding Properties agent Sue O’Molony.
“There has been a definite increase in the property market over the past 10 years, from both local and international buyers,” she says.
Llandudno is ranked by New World Wealth research group as the sixth most expensive suburb in the country in terms of house prices, with the average cost per square metre of R54 000.
O’Molony says an entry-level home in 2009 started at R6m, while the top end price was about R18.25m.
“There was a steady increase in 2010, and a front-line property sold for R24.5m. Two record sales in 2014 hit the R40m and R42m mark, with prices starting at R9.5m.”
She says the market continues to show steady growth and the starting price of a home in Llandudno is now about R10m, with plots also selling for R10m and top-end sales of R40m