Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Trends set in 2017 look to continue
Semigration, prepaid and tiny properties among highlights
retrofitted with water-saving devices such as dual flush toilets, low-flow sanitary fittings, rainwater harvesting tanks and grey water systems.”
The trend to downsizing property when times are tough has been reinvented by Cape Town buyers who have traded in their larger homes for smaller properties because they want to, not because they need to.
Many buyers across the country have been forced to downsize to cut costs, but a sweeping trend has been for residents to “buy down” to meet their desires for lifestyle changes, less home maintenance, lock-up-and-go convenience, and increased security.
Basil Moraitis, Pam Golding Properties area manager for the Atlantic Seaboard, described it as a case of “downsizing your home to upsize your lifestyle”.
FNB property economist John Loos says the overall percentage of South Africans citing “downscaling with life stage” as a reason for selling rose substantially from 13% in 2008 to 27% in 2016.
This group of sellers was, theoretically, not in financial difficulty, but wished to “offload” properties that were perhaps too large and costly for their altered requirements.
. though holiday home-driven markets across the country felt the pressure of slow economic growth and political instability, there were still areas in the Western Cape that remained magnets for holiday home purchases.
In Cape Town properties were still bought for this purpose, although volumes have dropped, says Steve Thomas, franchise manager for Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty in False Bay and Noordhoek.
Most purchases were along the coast of Cape Town. Most came from other parts of South Africa, including Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.
The balance of holiday home buyers were overseas citizens. The three Atlantic Seaboard hot spots for foreign buyers were Clifton, Bantry Bay and Camps Bay.
Holiday home buyers were still “very motivated” by the “spectacular” capital growth offered by the Atlantic Seaboard, with most properties having doubled in value from 2013, says Basil Moraitis, Pam Golding Properties area manager for the area.
Small, low maintenance homes and gardens are fast becoming the sought- after property type in Cape Town as rising living costs and increased work flexibility become hallmarks of the average South African household.
Some real estate companies have partnered with developers to create their own stock to meet demand.
The FNB Property Barometer defined a small house as 20m² to 80m², often found in former townships or low income areas and sectional title developments. In areas like the Atlantic Seaboard a small house would be anything below 160m².
Property specialists say the