Midrand rising
Developers are working to meet the demand for residential property in Midrand, a sought-after area halfway between Johannesburg and Tshwane
Recent analysis of sales in the sectional title, freehold and estate property market by Lightstone Property highlights Midrand and Modderfontein as the most popular areas in terms of volume of five-yearold properties sold in the past five years. They attribute this largely to the level of commercial, industrial and residential growth within these geographic parameters.
Meanwhile, sectional title sales of properties that are between 30 to 39 years old have outperformed other age bands with an average annual growth of 4.7%. In the past five years alone, these properties have realised an average of 29% compared with 22% for the 20- to 29-year-old sectional title units.
While the South African economy continues to struggle and sentiment and political confidence in the market remain low, Seeff Property Group chairman Samuel Seeff says FNB has hinted at some stability returning to the property market as it adapts to the post-election reality.
There are pockets of excellence, with some areas faring above average, Seeff says, although the real estate market remains flat when compared with the previous three years. Even though the national house price rose marginally to 3.5% by midyear, it is still below the CPI and is expected to remain in this range, possibly only ticking up to about 4% next year.
Mixed use
Properties in Midrand, however, are in demand. The area is 20 minutes’ drive from Sandton and an hour from Tshwane, and on the Gautrain route. It is also the location of multi award-winning Waterfall Estate, the largest mixeduse development in Africa that will ultimately house nearly 76,000 residents and provide commercial and office space for a further 75,000 people. Resulting upgrades to infrastructure and roads have helped reduce traffic congestion, which had been an issue in the past.
“Investors have seen massive capital gains on vacant land and all
"You can find anything from a small apartment for a first-time buyer to a massive stand in Waterfall or Kyalami to build on. Midrand appeals to a lot of people, no matter what their life stage" Jessica Cabanita, marketing manager, Craft Homes
our developments in this area are sold out,” says Jessica Hofmeyr, executive at Century Property Developments and head of Houss, a new company established to manage the Century Property Developments rental portfolio. “Waterfall Equestrian Estate, Waterfall Hills Mature Lifestyle Estate, Waterfall Valley Mature Lifestyle Estate, Waterfall Country Estate and
Waterfall Country Village have all increased in price by at least 80% and reached record prices for resales.”
The company has more than 2,000 units in its Midrand rental portfolio, says Hofmeyr. “We have maintained a 98% occupancy rate, and are looking at expanding our portfolio within the Midrand area.”
Craft Homes marketing manager Jessica Cabanita attributes the significant spike in demand in the Waterfall Ridge precinct to the fact that this area is now fully developed.
“You can find anything from a small apartment for a first-time buyer to a massive stand in Waterfall or Kyalami to build on,” she says. “Midrand appeals to a lot of people, no matter what their life stage.”
Launched in June
2018, Waterfall Ridge is a three-phase development comprising 294 units. Two-bedroom, twobathroom ground-floor apartments were priced from R950,000 to R1.1m. By the time of going to press, all three phases were under offer.
Sectional title
Balwin Properties’ Kikuyu Waterfall is the first phase of Waterfall Fields, a sectional title apartment development with its own lifestyle centre. These units are fibre-ready and equipped with world-class amenities and ecofriendly appliances, and have solar-supplemented electricity and balconies for outdoor entertaining. A one-bedroom, onebathroom apartment starts from R859,900, whereas a three-bedroom, twobathroom apartment on the first floor is priced from R1,599,900. There are no transfer costs.
Two- and threebedroom sectional title apartments priced from R2.299m form part of Polofields, another Balwin Properties development next to the Equestrian Estate and Waterfall Hills. It includes a five-star lifestyle centre designed by LYT Architects that won the 2018/19 African Property Award for Best Leisure Interior and offers superb facilities and services focusing on quality leisure activities.
At Waterfall City, next door to the Mall of Africa, Ellipse Waterfall is launching its second phase of development on October 26 and 27. More than 80% of Phase 1 of Ellipse, the first residential high-rise in Waterfall, is sold. The development comprises luxury apartments in four towers named Galileo, Cassini (the tallest and the focus of this month’s launch), Newton and
Kepler. These units have unparalleled views of the Gauteng skyline, as well as high ceilings, modern light-filled interiors and ecofriendly features.
Freestanding homes
Meanwhile, Craft Homes will be launching four new projects leading up to March 2020, one of which is in Kyalami.
“We’ve identified a gap in the market for freestanding homes,” says Cabanita. “We’re very excited about The Woods in Kyalami, which comprises three- to fourbedroom duplex homes priced from about R2.1m to R2.5m. That is really good for this area. The development is entirely surrounded by parkland.”
Top estates
Residential estate living is growing in popularity, especially among the more affluent, says real estate advisor Basil Weinrich, who assists global market research group New World Wealth in compiling its estate ratings reports.
“We estimate that more than 40% of South African HNWIs [high net worth individuals] live or have homes on residential estates,” he says.
Notably, SA is one of the global pioneers in residential estate living. According to New World Wealth, the only country in the world with more residential estates than SA is the US, where the majority are found in the Florida area.
“We estimate that more than 40% of South African high net worth individuals live or have homes on residential estates” Basil Weinrich, real estate advisor
The New World Wealth Estates Report 2018 points out that although the residential market in the country has come under strain over the past year, houses or apartments on top-end residential estates have outperformed the general market.
“Most developers are now creating small neighbourhoods within the estates, as opposed to the old model where houses were spaced evenly around the entire property. The new model allows for more parkland and open spaces between the neighbourhoods,” the report states.
It ranks Steyn City near Broadacres among the top 10 residential estates in the country.
“Steyn City is arguably the best designed estate in SA, with large amounts of beautiful parkland between the various distinct residential neighbourhoods. It also offers a nice mix of houses, townhouses and apartments,” the report notes. “In our view, its design and layout has set the blueprint that upcoming estates will try to follow. The communal areas, vegetation, nature and parklands are particularly impressive, as is the bird life. The estate is also child-friendly, with walking paths and underpasses under all the roads. House or apartment prices on the estate range from R2m to R35m.”
Retirement developments
According to Lightstone Property’s data, retirement developments and mature lifestyle estates aged between one and 19 years old dominate the list for sales of properties under five years old, with three of the midstream branded estates among the top 10 performers in estate sales.
“It’s been really interesting to see how the variation in property ages affects sales and how these ages do not necessarily meet the associated perceptions,” says Esteani Marx from Lightstone Property. “Properties bought and registered in the past 19 years take the top spot in estate sales. However, properties that are 20 to 30 years old continue to show promising growth year on year – a comforting thought in an economic climate that has had such a volatile effect on the property industry.”
Meanwhile, bank lending rates are continuing an upwards trend. “FNB recently reported that the mortgage lending growth rate outpaced house price growth for the first time since mid-2011,” says Seeff. “It remains a good time to get into the market.”
“Most developers are now creating small neighbourhoods within the estates, as opposed to the old model where houses were spaced evenly around the entire property” The New World Wealth Estates Report 2018