Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa June 2013 | Page 68

PROPERTY MONITOR

BY GINA MEINTJIES

Get Your Golf
Gear On
Golf estates: a must-have investment!

W

hile the national average house price
is predicted to continue its meagre
growth rate of between 2,5% and
3% according to bank property economists,
Seeff ’s major metropolitan branches report
significantly better growth for urban lifestyle
and golf estates. Although sales volumes on the
whole are still about 30% to 40% down on the
pre-2007/8 highs, 25 top estates in the country
boast an average price growth over the past five
years of well above 20%, says Seeff chairman,
Samuel Seeff.
The top attraction of these estates is the top
class security and safe lifestyle that residents
enjoy. The estates are generally enclosed with

66

June 2013 SA Real Estate Investor

electrified perimeter fencing, have controlled
access points and 24/7 guards that patrol the
estate. Additionally, there is a quality lifestyle on
offer and it is for these reasons that buyers are
prepared to a premium of between 20% and 40%
for an estate home, he says. Average prices range
between R2,5 million and R7,9 million and
upwards of R10 million for a luxury home.
Aside from a top class golf course and amenities
on offer in golf estates, many of the estates also
come with shared facilities such as a clubhouse,
restaurants, a gymnasium, swimming pool and
some even boast shopping facilities and a private
school on site. The added luxury of wide open
spaces interspersed with greenery, often with

water streams and dams and walking and cycling
trails where residents and especially children can
move around freely in a secure environment add
to the attraction for buyers, says Seeff.
While coastal and Garden Route estates
continue to struggle to find buyers, especially
at the top end and primarily as they are second
home markets, Seeff says that residential estates
in the greater Johannesburg and Cape Town
metropolitan areas are showing good turnover
and capital growth for sellers, says Seeff. Clouds
End, located in Morningside, Sandton for
example now boasts an average selling price of
around R13 million, up by about 30% from R10
million five years ago. Dainfern has seen similar
www.reimag.co.za