As a famously beautiful city, it is no surprise that Cape Town is home to some of the country’s most expensive properties. This leaves many locals whose salaries fall into the middle-income segment struggling to find an affordable home.
If you’re looking for a nice suburban living environment that won’t break the bank completely, local Seeff property agents say there are plenty of areas around the Mother City where residents can buy for under R2-million.
What’s more, it is a good time to get into the market, Seeff agents say. After a five-year growth spurt, price growth has slowed notably to at best around 4%-7% on average. Another upside of buying now is that there are many motivated sellers to choose from. The favourable buying conditions are further underscored by the flat interest rate and positive mortgage lending landscape.
Here are a few areas that you should add to your property shopping list:
1. False Bay
With the Helderberg and Hottentots Holland Mountains as a backdrop and fronted by a 5-km white sandy beach, Strand offers a desirable coastal lifestyle combined with excellent facilities and good schools.
It offers excellent affordability for first time buyers and families. You can find an apartment from around R425 000 and can still buy on the beachfront from R1,5m, says Alten Vermaak, Seeff licensee. Houses range from R580 000 for two bedrooms and R675 000 for three bedrooms, while you can find a nice family house from within the R1.35-million-R2.4-million range.
2. Parow or Goodwood Central Suburbs
Parow is a large residential area that offers both centrality and excellent facilities. The affordability is outstanding, and the area attracts a lot of younger buyers, about 40% of them under 35 years.
Flats start at R400 000 to R600 000 for two bedrooms. A small house is around R950 000 to R1.8-million for a nice-sized family home with garages and a swimming pool.
Goodwood is one of the most popular areas when it comes to affordability, it comprises of several suburbs and a bustling commercial centre with a wide range of services available as well as excellent schools.
Two-bed apartments can be found for around R650 000 and three-bed apartments (although scarcer) from around R900 000. Townhouses start at R1.3-million and a basic three-bedroom house from R1.450-million.
View Properties in Parow here.
3. Thornton Southern Suburbs
Thornton offers excellent centrality with close proximity to the northern and southern suburbs combined with good value and lots of potential, according to Pauline Hareb, sales manager for Seeff Pinelands and Thornton. Buyers tend to come from surrounding suburbs like Rylands, Crawford, Athlone and Maitland, wanting to upgrade into the area.
Sectional title properties start at R700 000 and in the complexes at R1.1-million. Full title houses often require some renovation, but you get a nice sized erf and lots of potential which makes these a good investment. Price range from R1.7-million.
View properties in Thornton here.
4. Parklands, Western Seaboard
Close proximity to Blouberg Beach, a quality lifestyle, excellent schools, and modern yet affordable properties are all reasons to invest in Parklands, according to Luyanda Hoboshe, an intern agent from Seeff Blouberg. The area offers excellent facilities and good transport with easy access to main arterials and bus, taxi and the MyCiti Bus services.
Parklands offers excellent value for first-time buyers and start-up families, he says. Modern two-bedroomed apartments start at R750 000. Houses with two to three bedrooms range from R1.3-million while you can find a top end modern home with 3-4 bedrooms an entertainment area, double garage, swimming pool and lots of space for kids to play from R1.8-million.
View property in Parklands here.
5. Durbanville, Northern Suburbs
Beatie Kritzinger, an agent with Seeff Durbanville, says the suburb is ideal for middle-income earners. It offers a very suburban feel suited to first-time buyers and families, and she says you are close to good access roads, schools and all the attractions of Durbanville including the Wine Valley, Tygervalley Shopping Precinct and the Tygervalley Waterfront area.
The suburb offers predominantly sectional title security complexes and freehold townhouses in gated complexes, and about half of all buyers are under 35-years. Sectional title apartments are priced from R1.05-million and freehold townhouses in gated complexes from around R1.4-million.
View properties in Durbanville here.
Pictures: PrivateProperty.com