Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
CAPE TOWN REMAINS A BIG HIT
As the number of South Africans selling to move to other countries rises, so too is the number of foreigners buying here
SOUTH Africans have responded to the country’s political and economic instability with the typical human fight or flight response.
The number of South Africans emigrating to New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom is being increasingly seen on social media platforms and growing in official data.
But as many homes are being so too are large numbers property in South Africa.
The FNB House Price Index shows more than 7.5% of property owners with their homes on the market are packing up and leaving South Africa’s borders.
This is a trend Nardee Cotterell, chief operations officer at online agency PropertyFox, says will continue “well into 2019 on the back of a weakening sentiment in South Africa, usually related to economic and political woes within the country”.
FNB’s John Loos says emigration rates appear to be on the rise with properties sold in order to emigrate accounting for 9.57% of all sellers in Cape Town, 8% of those in Joburg, and 10.64% of sellers in eThekwini.
“While the Western Cape’s emergence from drought may well have lifted its economic growth back up to a rate higher than other major South African regions, rendering those regions once again relatively unattractive for Capetonians in terms of employment opportunities, there are many economies abroad which boast significantly higher growth rates, and thus more attractive opportunities, than the Western Cape.”
Yael Geffen, chief executive of Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty, says: “Many people will also sold due to emigration, foreigners buying be leaving the country or looking to buy a residence abroad as insurance and demand for citizen programmes abroad is, therefore, likely to grow.
“We are receiving on average three to five inquiries a week, specifically for Malta, Cyprus and Portugal.”
The popularity of the Cape among foreign buyers is expected to increase, with Greeff Christies International Real Estate chief executive Mike Greeff saying the UK publication named Cape Town the “greatest city on earth”.
“This accolade will likely bode well for the tourism and property market with an anticipated influx of foreign nationals.
“The Mother City benefits from world-class beaches, the iconic Table Mountain, its premier wine farms and dining selections and an array of good educational institutional and housing options.
“Cape Town beat other thriving cities such as Tokyo in Japan, New York in the US and Sydney in Australia to claim the top spot.”
Figures from Lightstone indicate that 10 697 properties in the Western Cape were sold to foreign buyers between 2014 and 2018. In Gauteng, this number is 19 312 and in KwaZulu-Natal 3 850.
In total, 38 523 properties in the country were bought by foreigners during these five years and accounted for R49.6 billion in sales.
While Nelio Mendes, marketing manager at SAProperty.com, believes many South Africans will be awaiting the outcome of the elections before buying or selling, the fact that the country is out of recession will “possibly encourage a slight increase in foreign buyers investing in buy-to-let properties”.