Affordable Atlantic seaside apartments are in short supply

THERE is a renewed sense of urgency among buyers looking for affordable seaside flats priced below R3 million near the city’s top beaches, say Seeff ’s agents on the Atlantic seaboard and in the Blouberg area.

“From an oversupply over the past few years, we have seen a dramatic shift with a massive stock shortage now evident,” says Seeff ’s Atlantic seaboard managing director, Ian Slot.

“Our figures for the first half of the year also show about 60 buyers on average a s howhouse, c o mpared t o 41 during the same period last year,” he says.

Atlantic seaboard agents Hilary Biccari and Bianca Gutteridge say that, during the first five months of this year, about 124 flats worth almost R185m were sold in the seaside suburbs that stretch from Mouille Point through to Green Point, Sea Point, Bantry Bay and Fresnaye.

“These figures exclude sales at the V&A Waterfront and in Clifton and Camps Bay. Most notably, we have noticed a narrowing of the gap between listed and sale prices from just under 10 percent over the last three years to around 7.7 percent due to strong demand and more realistic pricing.”

Biccari and Gutteridge say that apartments are selling almost as fast they can list them.

“Some of our most recent sales in Sea Point illustrate the demand. We listed a one-bedroomed garden apartment in Le Village on a Tuesday and closed a cash offer for R1.05m by the Friday. An older, threeb e d r o o med apar t ment i n Twelve London Road, also listed on the Tuesday, was sold on the Saturday for R1.9m following about 26 enquiries for the apartment. An apartment in Normandale was sold for the full listed price of R2.2m to the first buyer that viewed it before we even had a change to list it.

“Buyers have been a mix of own-use and buy-to-let investors, as there is strong demand for rental apartments in the area, especially in Sea Point and in Green Point.”

Seeff ’s Blouberg area principal, Wouter Pentz, reports similar conditions in his area.

“In the first four months of this year, about 81 apartments worth more than R85m have been sold on the sea side of the R27 West Coast Road. This is about 27 percent more than the roughly 64 units that were sold during the first four months of last year.

“Here, too, a severe shortage of well- priced apartments below R3m remains a challenge for agents. The strong demand has also resulted in a narrowing of the gap between listed and sale prices for apartments to between 5 percent in the West Beach and Bloubergsands areas to around 9 percent in Bloubergstrand. The gap is still somewhat above 12 percent in Big Bay, largely because apartments there are more expensive,” says Pentz.