While the leisure sector of the secondary coastal market continues to trade at about 30 percent to 40 percent below the pre-2007/8 sales volumes, Plettenberg Bay, a primary holiday town, has seen a rally in leisure sales over the past year and into this year.
This home offers four bedrooms, five bathrooms, a gym room with sauna, indoor braai and four garages. It is on the market for R18 million - click here to view.
This is according to Seeff Plettenberg Bay principal, Kevin Engelsman, who says it seems that many buyers are realising that prices are now probably as low as they are likely to go and the value on offer is not to be passed up.
Seeff has sold 90 properties to the total value of about R181 million over the past year compared to 60 properties worth around R118 million during 2011/12, about a 50 percent improvement. Engelsman attributes this exceptional growth to a combination of agent and seller education and counselling.
He says operating in a down-market is challenging and they realised that if they were to be successful for sellers, they needed to relook at their approach. Consequently, he says they have seen good growth in leisure sales with almost 70 percent of their sales over the last year coming from the leisure sector. Almost half of these comprise buyers from the greater Johannesburg area while Capetonian buyers make up about 13 percent and foreign buyers, predominantly from the UK and European countries, about seven percent.
This home in Whale Rock has five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a swimming pool, three garages and direct beach access. It is on the market for R16 million - click here to view.
Engelsman says most notably, their sales included six properties sold above the R10 million price mark, something that they have not seen much of since 2007/8. He says Gauteng buyers invested between R18.5 million and R45 million (the highest price paid for a home in the town), while Capetonians snapped up properties priced between R13 million and R17.3 million.
“Seef agent, Alet Ollemans who was responsible for the majority of these top-end sales also secured the spot for the third highest Rand-value sales nationally at the recent Seeff annual awards; quite an achievement considering that Plettenberg Bay had to compete against primary areas such as the Atlantic Seaboard and Sandton.”
There has also been some good interest in developments, says Engelsman. He says they were granted a sole mandate to sell the remaining 21 stands at The Hill and have just clinched the sale of all of these plots to an investment consortium for R16.6 million. This follows hot on the heels of the recent sale of 24 out of the available 33 units at Whale Rock Ridge in just five weeks.
This home is situated at the Twin Rivers Estate and offers four bedrooms, four bathrooms, tennis court, swimming pool and four garages. It is priced at R15 million - click here to view.
Confidence in property in the town is not misplaced, he says. According to information from SA Property Valuations, average prices in Plettenberg Bay have grown annually at an average of approximately 15 percent, demonstrating the investment value if bought at the correct price.
Ollemans says market conditions still favour buyers and properties on the market offer exceptional value. For example, a river-side villa with a private boat mooring, which is situated in the Twin Rivers Estate is on offer for R9.95 million. This 22 hectare nature estate is situated between the Bitou and Keurbooms Rivers, about five minutes’ drive from the centre of the town. The estate comprises a lush peninsula formed by the two parallel flowing rivers that form a single estuary into the warm Indian Ocean. A large part of the estate is covered in indigenous vegetation with villas situated on the Keurbooms River bank. There is a clubhouse with a swimming pool and tennis court for residents and security is top class. The location makes it a nature lover’s paradise with birding, fishing and water sports on offer, she says.
This particular home offers 650 square metres of floor space, with stunning finishes such as beautiful stone basins set on a custom-built vanity cabinet and a freestanding bath in the main bathroom. Open-rafter ceilings add interest to the interiors and the floors are finished in a combination of trendy wooden and Travertine floors and there is a fireplace in the living areas.
There are two lounges, a dining room and an ultra-modern kitchen. The living areas open onto a spacious entertainment terrace with a bar and lounge area that faces the river and overlooks a decked area and rim-flow swimming pool.
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