There’s been further evidence that Paarl residential property prices are rising steadily and that while demand is increasing in the lower price brackets, there has also been a marked shift upwards in the higher price brackets.
This house has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, spacious living areas, a braai room and two garages. It is priced at R2.715 million – click here to view.This is according to Lizette Joubert, the Rawson Property Group’s franchisee for Paarl, who says in 2012, 38% of sales were under R1 million, 50% in the R1 million to R2 million bracket and 10% above R2 million. In 2014, 54% of sales were under R1 million, 34% in the R1 million to R2 million bracket and 12% above R2 million.
These figures might seem to convey the message that the trend has been towards the less expensive properties, but Joubert says in the same two-year period, the overall turnover rose by 41%, and this was only possible because of ongoing sales in the higher price brackets.
“The big increase in the under R1 million bracket was due to our establishing a satellite office in Paarl East. That alone could, however, never have given us so big an upturn in turnover.”
She says this came about because their turnovers in the upper brackets also increased noticeably and Paarl buyers adjusted their thinking and started favouring the higher price brackets more than they have done in the past.
This home offers three bedrooms, one bathroom, an open plan kitchen and dining room, air-conditioning and a covered veranda. It is on the market for R980 000 – click here to view.“What this means is that in the middle bracket, our actual turnover rose by 14% and in the higher bracket by 16%.”
Joubert says the Paarl East office soon found that there was, among the least affluent of the Paarl community, a strong hunger to become homeowners.
She says the encouraging thing is that in those two years these potential home buyers have greatly increased in their knowledge of the property market, and this in turn has resulted in their understanding better the criteria on which banks issue loans.
They still get cases where the applicants try to hide certain credit impairments, but these are always picked up by credit investigations, she says. On the whole, however, these buyers understand the market far better than they did before.
“With buyers now showing a greater interest in Paarl property, the challenge facing all agents in the area in 2015 will be to find stock and when we do obtain stock, if it is accurately priced, we invariably sell it within five to six weeks.” She says they have seen correctly priced properties selling within a week of being listed.
Joubert says she has tried, from the outset her franchise, to inculcate the idea that loyalty to the client is as important as loyalty to the employer.
She says they see themselves as long-term operators and they know that one displeased client can influence a great many others. Therefore they always strive to keep all their clients satisfied with the service they are offering.
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