Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa March/April 2020 | Page 44

OFFICE
A new generation
of property owners
Financially savvy millennials are favouring the
savings of mixed-use lifestyles
NICOLE CHAMBERLIN
The risk-averse millennial generation is taking a
keen interest in the minimalist, cost-effective concept
of mixed-use precincts, with affordability, value and
cost-saving measures proving to be top of mind.
W
ith further tepid growth forecast for 2020, personal
and household finances for the majority of South
Africans are likely to remain under pressure for a
considerable time. Yet, as a consequence, buyer sentiment
is shifting towards value and affordability, and this is being
seen in a boom for mixed-use precincts in economic hubs
and principal cities around South Africa.
The mixed-use precinct boom is being experienced in
economic hubs and principal cities around the world, with
much growth in this sector being attributed to shifts in
buyer sentiment towards value and affordability.
With further tepid growth forecast for 2020, personal
and household finances for the majority of South Africans
are likely to remain under pressure for a considerable time
yet. And, according to the 2019 Deloitte Global Millennial
Survey, 67% of millennials in South Africa have an ambition
to buy a home of their own.
Figures released by property information providers,
Lightstone Property, indicate that millennials face paying
up to three times more on their first home than those of
Generation X, owing to significant increases in living costs
and inflation over the past two decades. This, coupled with
unpredictable global and local economics, as well as rising
unemployment figures have made it difficult for millennials
to get a foot on the property ladder.
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MARCH/APRIL 2020 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine
However, those who take a holistic approach to their
finances when hunting for property are gravitating towards
homes in mixed-use precincts, particularly in Johannesburg
and Cape Town. Affordability, value and cost-saving
measures in terms of utilities, maintenance and transport
are proving to be top of mind for most buyers, particularly
those within the millennial generation.
“Millennials face paying
up to three times more on
their first home than those
of Generation X, owing to
significant increases in living
costs and inflation over the
past two decades.”
The Amdec Group's One on Whiteley development at
Melrose Arch has seen rapid uptake of its 241 residential
apartments, which offer a live-work-play lifestyle within this
iconic award-winning precinct, while The Group’s Harbour
Arch development, currently under construction in Cape