Goodwood Estate, one of the most popular suburbs in the greater Goodwood area, still offers some of the best housing value in town.
This is according to Johann Groenewald, Seeff’s licensee for the area, who says while the latest FNB Property Barometer puts the Western Cape at the top nationally with the highest average house price at R1 386 260, you can still find a nice family house for between R1.2 million and R1.7 million in the Goodwood area.
“It therefore should come as no surprise that the market is as busy as ever,” says Groenewald.
The number of freehold properties sold in Goodwood Estate increased from 39 units in 2013 to 60 units in 2014.
“In line with the rest of the market, the unit count for 2015 came in slightly lower, but so far, we have seen no further decline. Sales for the first half of 2016 remained on par with the same period last year,” says Groenewald.
From a price growth point of view, the median price of standard family homes increased by around 12.5% year-on-year for the period 2013 to 2014.
“While there was a slight slowdown in the 2015 growth, we still experienced a very solid 10% increase in property prices in the suburb for this period,” he says.
The appeal of Goodwood Estate is such that it now attracts buyers across the demographics. Younger buyers between the ages of 18 to 35 years especially have increased to about 31% of all buyers over the last year.
“What we have found over the last few years is that buyers tend to buy the best value that they can find, and then renovate and upgrade to meet their individual needs and specifications,” he says.
“This in turn has boosted the overall property prices in the suburb. The banks have also played a positive role by granting a larger percentage of bonds at 100% loan to value.”
As a result of stock shortages, Groenewald says the asking prices in the suburb have increased, and in many cases sellers are getting close to - or even the full - asking price.
Groenewald says it is expected that Goodwood Estate will remain a sellers’ market for at least the remainder of this quarter.
Homeowners that want to take advantage of the still favourable selling conditions are urged to act sooner rather than later, though,” he says.
“Even if you do not want to sell right now, it is still a good time to get an updated market valuation.”