Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa March/April 2020 | Page 45

Town, has seen 90% of its 432 residential units sold already,
equating to R1.3 billion in sales.
Director of Amdec Property Developments, Nicholas
Stopforth, believes that cost-conscious millennials are
becoming more discerning about where they choose
to invest, in terms of location, overheads, amenities and
lifestyle offerings.
“The millennial generation is renowned for being risk
averse, so they’re more likely to steer clear of pre-owned
properties that typically carry the “Voetstoots” clause.
Millennials recognise the false economy of buying homes
in affordable suburbs away from the city, as their personal
budgets are consumed by additional travel, maintenance
and security costs,” says Stopforth.
“Savvy buyers and investors are increasingly aware that a
higher initial outlay is quickly offset against savings in fuel
and utility costs over time.”
exhausting, time consuming, expensive, and harmful to
the environment as well as one’s quality of life,” continues
Stopforth.
“Amenity has proven to be the value differentiator for
securing tenants and investors at One on Whiteley and
Harbour Arch. Living within a pedestrianized live-work-
play precinct, where all your needs are met within walking
distance of your home, along with the benefits of a safe and
secure, connected and sociable, lock up and go lifestyle
presents a compelling value proposition that more and
more South Africans are waking up to,” he said.
“One on Whitely is already 94% sold out, with only a
handful of units still available for sale. And while there’s
a great deal of saturation in traditional property markets,
demand for mixed-use developments in South Africa is
beginning to outweigh supply.”
New urban precincts are not only appealing to
millennials, whose sensibilities tend to lean towards ‘sharing’
economies, but also to more affluent homeowners looking
to downsize to smaller shared environments with superior
amenities within walking distances of their homes. Despite concerns among analysts that 2020 is set to be a
challenging year for the property sector, owing to a sluggish
economy, load shedding and muted foreign investment,
most agree that the 2019 trend of investing in smaller
homes in secure, walkable, convenient mixed-use precincts
is set to continue into the foreseeable future.
“Much of Johannesburg’s urban sprawl necessitates
the use of private or public transport to commute to and
from work, as well as to indulge in leisure time, which is SOURCES Amdec Property Development, Lightstone,
Deloitte Global Millennial Surve
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