Home to pristine beaches, a balmy climate and the Moses Mahbida Stadium, Durban is one of South Africa’s largest urban areas, and its port is the busiest in the country.
This three bedroom, three bathroom simplex in Essenwood in Durban is set in a quiet cul de sac with street patrol. The entertainment area with pool offers sweeping views of the city and sea. It is selling for R3.1 million - click here to view.This is according to Terence Hogben, Principal of Leapfrog Property Group for Durban Central, who says according to the recent Knight Frank Global Residential Cities Index, Durban is also one of the few areas in the country that has seen growth in house prices.
Hogben says Durban is listed as one of the top-performing South African cities - placed 14th out of 165 cities - with property prices increasing by 11.6% on average between the fourth quarter of 2014 and the fourth quarter of 2015.
“While many consider Durban to be the more easy-going counterpart to Johannesburg, it has in recent years become a major international tourist destination, having been recognised as one of the New7Wonders Cities in 2015,” he says.
“The Globalisation and World Rankings Research Institute, considered the leading institute ranking world cities, has also declared Durban a Gamma City. There are Alpha Cities such as London and New York, Beta Cities like Berlin and Cape Town, and Gamma Cities that include Durban, Charlotte, Georgetown and Valencia.”
This one bedroom, one bathroom flat on the market in Durban’s North Beach has a jacuzzi and bar counter. It includes a covered parking bay and is on sale R925 000 - click here to view.Hogben says the growing tourism industry, combined with the construction of the Moses Mabidha Stadium, creating of Ushaka Marine World, new Durban Waterfront development project and efforts to clean up the CBD have all contributed to a making Durban an important economic complex - accounting for 15% of national output.
As such, he says it’s not surprising that property prices have seen good growth in recent times.
“We’re experiencing quite a buoyant property market with property pricing increasing significantly over the last two years, especially in areas like Morningside with its close proximity to excellent schools such as the Clifton Preparatory School,” he says.
While Hogben agrees that the lower segment of the property market - R600 000 to R1.5 million sectional title units - is performing extremely well, as in many other parts of the country, he says buyers are happy to purchase freehold properties in Glenwood for slightly higher prices from R1.2 million to R2.5 million.
This three bedroom, two bathroom Victorian home for sale in Glenwood has wooden flooring throughout, fireplace, entertainment deck with built-in braai and swimming pool. It is selling for R1.5 million - click here to view.Properties from Essenwood to Morningside are also being bought for between R1.8 million to R3.5 million on a regular basis.
“Once we have sold a property, we keep on getting calls for weeks after - in fact, we could sell well-specified properties around the R3 million mark every day,” says Hogben.
“Morningside is quite built up, so older properties have to be knocked down to make space if one wishes to have new developments, and we’re finding that buyers are happy to pay the price for a property with modern finished and increased security. That being said, the demand is mostly for the older more solid homes built with good clay brick and higher standard builds of yesteryear.”
Who is buying?
This two bedroom, one bathroom ground floor apartment on the market in Musgrave in Durban includes a parking bay. It is selling for R1.05 million - click here to view.“We’ve also had a surprising number of enquiries from buyers working overseas who are planning to return to South Africa. In fact, a few of our sales over R3 million have been made this way,” says Hogben.
Apart from South Africans living overseas, he says a lot of young families are buying anywhere from Glenwood through to Morningside for access to better schools and amenities.
“Glenwood especially is also very community driven, which many young couples find appealing,” says Hogben.
Sellers, on the other hand, are mainly selling to move to where their children have settled and are generally older people closer to retirement age.
“We’re excited by the sales we’re seeing in Durban, and are confident that the area offers great returns on residential property investments - provided of course that the property is valued correctly,” says Hogben.
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