CAPE TOWN CBD PROPERTY MARKET STILL BOOMING

Cape Town continues to exhibit a booming residential property market, with the CBD in particular seeing exponential growth in the last year. This is according to Brendan Miller, head of Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty Atlantic Seaboard branch, who spoke to Fin24 earlier this week.

Miller says central Cape Town saw 682 residential property sales between January 2014 and June 2015, totalling around R1.093-billion. The average price of an apartment in the CBD now sits at R1.6-million, but Miller expects that will increase dramatically towards the end of next year when several new developments around the city move from planning to transfer phase.

There are several factors driving property prices continually upwards in Cape Town, says Miller, one of which is investor confidence in the growth trajectory of the CBD. There are also new residential and commercial developments popping up all the time, and commuters are ‘simply no longer prepared to waste time in traffic – even if this means cutting back on living space and sacrificing “luxuries” such as gardens.’ It’s an interesting take on the choices many of us make when deciding where to live. I, for one, would be very happy to give up a garden or a pool if it meant I could get an extra 20 minutes in bed each morning.

The Cape Cape Town Central City Improvement District’s State of the Central City Report 2014, pegged the overall value of all property in the CBD in 2007/2008 at R5.641-billon. That value has exploded in 2014/2015 to R23.724-billion! Miller says Capetonians are beginning to follow the global trend of handing over the keys to their spacious suburban homes in exchange for the convenience of city living, adding that most properties in the CBD get snapped up by very willing buyers within four to six weeks of going on the market.

So I’d like to say the time is now to buy residential property in the Cape Town CBD, but it almost looks as if that ship has already sailed and we may be too late. Miller says the only way is up for the CBD, and with the City of Cape Town continually planning upgrades and improvements I can’t help but agree. Time to carpe that diem?

Read the full article on Fin24 here.

Photography courtesy HSMImages.co.za