Located northwest of central Durban is the township of Phoenix in KwaZulu-Natal.
This home offers three bedrooms, one bathroom and a newly fitted kitchen. It is on the market for R695 000 - click here to view.
Adrian Goslett, CEO of RE/MAX of Southern Africa, says property sales in the Phoenix industrial area were slow between 2004 and 2012, with only one property sold each year with the exception of 2006 and 2010, where three properties were sold in each of these years.
According to Lightstone data, property in the area consists of 56.25 percent freestanding homes and 43.75 percent sectional title units. Goslett notes that due to the fact that so few properties are sold in the area, property prices in Phoenix are erratic. He says during 2004, the average price of a freestanding home was around R2.36 million, however, this dropped to R625 000 in 2005.
The price recovered slightly in 2006, followed by a massive jump to the record high of R3.4 million in 2008. The price once again dropped to around R900 000 in 2010, but has subsequently made another remarkable recovery with the current price of a freestanding home around R3.332 million.
This three bedroom home has two bathrooms, a fitted kitchen and a spacious yard. It is priced at R570 000 - click here to view.
While the freestanding home price went from high to low and back again, the average price of a sectional title unit has been much more consistent, staying at around R400 000 throughout.
Currently, existing homeowners in the area are split fairly equally between the various age groups with those aged between 36 and 49 years old and those between 50 and 64 years old each making up 33.33 percent of the area’s residents. Approximately 25 percent are older than 65 and just 8.33 percent are between 18 and 35 years old.
Goslett says no homes were sold in the area between August 2012 and July 2013.
Initially a sugarcane estate, the area was developed during the mid-1970s as a municipal housing settlement for the Indian community. Although sections of the area were originally labelled as precincts, they were later renamed with proper street addresses. The area was established as a township in 1976 and has since served as a settlement for Indian people living in the region.
This double storey home has five bedrooms and two bathrooms. It is on the market for R795 000 - click here to view.
Phoenix is associated with the Phoenix Settlement, a South African heritage site established in 1904, which was built by Mahatma Gandhi. The Sarvodaya house in the Phoenix Settlement was originally built for Gandhi and his family, however, during the Inanda Riots in 1985, the house was burnt down.
A reconstruction of the house was built in its place and Gandhi started a newspaper called the Indian Opinion from his home in 1903. The name of the newspaper was later changed to Opinion and was printed at the International Printing Press until 1961.
Today the printing press on which the first Indian newspaper was printed in South Africa can be seen at Gandhi’s home, along with photos of him both in India and South Africa. The settlement now also has a clinic, school and HIV / Aids centre that assists in supporting the local community.
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