Coastal part of Cape bucks trend

Property sales strong on Atlantic Seaboard, say estate agents

APE TOWN’S ever-popular Atlantic Seaboard continues to buck worldwide trends that have seen the economic crunch impact negatively on the real estate market, with multimillion-rand properties being snapped up eagerly by both local and foreign buyers.

Areas including Sea Point, Camps Bay, Fresnaye, Clifton, Mouille Point and Bantry Bay saw significant growth in the first two months of the year, says Basil Moraitis, Pam Golding Properties (PGP) Atlantic Seaboard area manager.

“Over the past two years this office has sustained sales unit turnover, remaining relatively consistent, and we expect to see this trend continuing,” he added.

Although no firm statistics were yet available for 2012, Moraitis used Sea Point as an example to illustrate the upward trend.

“When one looks at Sea Point in 2009, there was only one flat sale of more than R5 million in the entire suburb. In 2012 that number climbed to six, with a record sale of R8.4m for a 240m two-bedroom flat in The Atheneum on Beach Road.”

In the first few months of last year, he added, they recorded three sales of more than R5m in the area, with the highest at R6m.

Seeff Properties has enjoyed high sales levels in the area this year, with two homes in Camps Bay being sold for R11m and R7.1m respectively, both to foreign buyers.

Ian Slot, Seeff Atlantic Seaboard managing director, said the area undoubtedly remained the “darling”, attracting foreign buyers despite market conditions.

He added that between 2009 and 2011, real estate worth more than R8 billion had been sold across the

CAtlantic Seaboard suburbs.

Company chair man Samuel Seeff said: “We are now entering the end of a five-year period since the introduction of the National Credit Act, and the onset of the global economic and housing crisis.”

Market activity from 2011 pointed towards a stabilisation of volumes and prices, as well as an anticipation that the trend would continue.

Seeff said price did not seem to be an issue for buyers in the area, with many houses in the luxury price band of more than R10m being sold during 2008 and 2011.

Slot added: “Over the past three years a total of 122 luxury brand houses were sold, totalling R2.2bn. These sales took place in the suburbs of Bantry Bay, Camps Bay, Clifton, Fresnaye and Green Point.”

He pointed out that Clifton, specifically, was not only the top-selling suburb on the Atlantic Seaboard, but also in the country – with 37 houses totalling R794m sold there in the past three years.

Pam Golding’s Moraitis agreed that Clifton was an extremely attractive drawcard.

“There is interest both from South Africans and international buyers, as well as from the expatriate market. This huge appeal is not only the beachfront lifestyle and remarkable views, but also the fact that the area is strictly zoned and regulated, meaning that one’s view will never be compromised.”

Cape Chamber of Commerce president Michael Bagraim said the city as a whole benefited significantly from any real estate boom.

“This large number of spenders buying property in Cape Town is good for the city, because these people will go into the city and pump money into our local businesses,” he said.