Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Demand for student digs throughout the year
THE END of the school year is fast approaching and with tertiary studies away from home on the cards for many matric pupils, parents will already be considering their accommodation options.
Areas close to universities are always in demand by investors and parents looking for homes for their children.
The latest student accommodation research by Jones Lang Lasalle reveals, within the next five years, more than half a million students in sub- Saharan Africa will need accommodation, which means properties near universities will continue to yield considerable investment opportunities.
UCT and the University of Stellenbosch are highly sought-after by students from all over the country and so accommodation in the southern suburbs and Stellenbosch itself are always in demand.
“It’s a global trend that residential properties in student towns achieve a higher capital growth compared with the national average,” says Louise Varga, Pam Golding Properties area manager for Stellenbosch.
“There are always parents looking to buy properties for their children studying nearby.”
Deanne Kriel, Pam Golding Properties agent for Stellenbosch, says there were close to 31 000 applications for Stellenbosch University last year and only about 6 500 spaces in the university’s official residences.
A large portion of the remaining 25 000 students had to find their own accommodation close to campus.
Lightstone research reveals many sectional title property prices have increased by at least 75% from a median of R900 000 in 2007 to R1.5 million this year, with some developments in Stellenbosch showing year-on-year price increases of 100% and more.
“In areas such as Stellen- bosch, student accommodation is no longer seasonal – demand is there all year round, with parents making up an increased percentage of buyers,” says Sandra Gordon, Pam Golding Properties research analyst.
This is echoed by Bill Rawson, chairperson of Rawson Property Group, who says properties in major student accommodation markets like Stellenbosch, Pretoria, the southern suburbs of Cape Town and the parts of Joburg surrounding Wits University and the main University of Johannesburg campus, are always sought after.
“In these areas, the student accommodation market is no longer seasonal…
“Now there is demand all year round and parents make up an increased percentage of buyers.”
He says Rondebosch and neighbouring Newlands are two of the most popular areas in Cape Town’s southern suburbs, partly because of their proximity to UCT.
“The latest Lightstone suburb report for Newlands, which covered the period April 2016 to March 2017, recounted a huge amount of repeat sales in developed freehold and sectional scheme properties.
“The area’s freehold properties saw 80 repeat sales, with a total value of R521.2m, and its sectional scheme properties had 60 repeats sales with a total value of R152.8m.”
As for Rondebosch: “Developed freehold properties, over the same time period, had 152 repeat sales, valued at R691.7m and developed sectional scheme properties saw 216 repeat sales with a total value of R377.3m.”