Great things in store for KZN’s booming property market in 2018

Just over a month into 2018 there is already there is plenty of good news for the KwaZulu-Natal property market.

This studio apartment in the final phase of the Pearls of Umhlanga is on the market for R2.527 million - click here to view.

This is according to Tim Johnson, Sales Director/Licensee of Seeff Dolphin Coast, who says the election of Cyril Ramaphosa as ANC president in December boosted the rand and in some way lifted all-round confidence levels.

In December alone the rand gained more than 10% against the US dollar, strengthening to levels that were last seen back in 2015.

Many economists believe that the rallying of the rand in the last few weeks of 2017 could help keep inflation in check over the first few months of 2018. It might even lead the Monetary Policy Committee to ease up on interest rates later on in the year.

If the trend continues, Johnson says the hope for all consumers, and for homeowners in particular, would certainly be for the Reserve Bank to drop interest rates.

This plot-and-plan three or four bedroom option home in Simbithi Eco Estate is selling for R4.64 million - click here to view.

Apart from rand strength, Ramaphosa’s win has lifted business and consumer sentiment, and this will definitely have an effect on the property market if trust continues to be built between government and the private sector.

Closer to home, the recent holiday season was a very busy one for estate agents.

“I found that online enquiries were well up, year on year, and the number of walk-in clients and phone calls was incredibly positive. Not even Christmas and Boxing Day stopped the healthy level of enquiries for our team,” says Johnson.

“Much of the interest was from people from upcountry wanting to relocate to KZN, and many of them returned towards the end of January to complete their transactions. By the end of January, our office had sold 11 properties that had been enquired about in the period between 12 and 31 December! This is double the figure of the previous year.”

This two bedroom, two bathroom apartment in La Mercy, a new beachside development in KZN, is on the market for R1.495 million - click here to view.

During holiday periods in the past, he says they always noted a number of ‘browsers’, but this season a combination of overall optimism in the outlook for 2018 and the desire to make a lifestyle shift meant that the quality of enquiries was very good. “We saw many people looking ‘with intent’ and being ready to transact, which was evidenced by the surge in deals concluded within a matter of a few short weeks over the holiday period and early January.”

The Seeff KZN group as a whole saw a 9% increase in sales in 2017 compared to 2016.

Johnson says this momentum is largely being driven by the fact that so many developers are bringing new projects on line, which means that there is plenty of stock available for buyers and investors. Development is especially active in Ballito, Umhlanga, Hillcrest and Queensburgh. Ballito is continuing to expand at a rapid rate, evidenced, for example, by Seeff Ballito’s record sales of over R53 million in October 2017 alone.

This brand-new three bedroom, three bathroom split-level home in Palm Lakes Estate in Ballito has two patios, and is selling for R2.75 million - click here to view.

In this area, he says developments like Zululami have seen an exceptional sales pace at launch, this pattern being repeated in extensive developments by the Balwin Group.

“The established market led by Zimbali Coastal Estate reports steady trade, while we expect the new developments to do well as they try to keep up with burgeoning buyer demand for the area, at average prices of between R3.5 million and R4 million. In the expanding market of the Dolphin Coast, lifestyle estates are now the preferred mode of living, priced at over the R3 million mark,” says Johnson.

“While it is still early days in 2018, with such a positive start to the year and a number of new projects and developments on the cards, it is hard not to be excited about what the year has in store for the KZN property market.”