Downscaling boosts eager markets

MANY homeowners in Rondebosch and Claremont are “feeling the squeeze badly” and selling for financial reasons, says Jill Lloyd of Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty.

“The increase in council rates has made people rethink their housing requirements, especially big gardens and houses that need staff to tend them. Staffing is expensive, as are water and electricity over and above the rocketing property rates.”

While Knight Frank’s Richard Hardie says clients with financial issues tend to get to the point of liquidation and often keep their future plans confidential, many move into rented accommodation.

Downscalers, however, look to buy lock-upand-go properties like apartments or townhouses.

In the Noordhoek area, “plenty of people are looking to downscale”, says Greeff Christie’s International Real Estate’s Mike Greeff. They are selling in other areas and downscaling to Noordhoek as it is further from the city and therefore less expensive.

“People are looking to free up cash and go as small as possible by maybe owning a lock-up-and-go here and a home in the countryside or just have a single lock-up-and-go unit.”

Areas such as Bishopscourt Village, Claremont Upper and Kenilworth Upper are seeing many sellers downscaling once adult children have left the home or due to financial reasons, Greeff says.

“In the Constantia Upper area, the most common trend is the need for simplicity. Many want to sell their large properties in favour of smaller ones that are more easily maintained. Gated communities or security estates are the most obvious choice.”

There is also a “definite” trend of downscaling in Rondebosch and Claremont in order to move into retirement homes and villages, says Lloyd. Emigration, too, is an “increasingly relevant factor”.

She says while there are some highly qualified people leaving the country, there are also diehards taking advantage of the available stock. Similarly, many buyers are taking advantage of the better property prices to upscale.

In the Kenilworth and Harfield areas, a significant number of recent sales has been due to retirement, with retirees downscaling to smaller free-standing homes, say Marc Plastow and Mitchell McKenzie, area specialists for Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty.

In Durbanville, people are selling larger homes and empty-nesters and retirees are moving to smaller homes, says the agency’s Dawie du Plessis.

He says: “There is a growing number of sellers, often owners of multiple properties, who are liquidating assets and not reinvesting in property.”