2021 Incredibly Vibrant Residential Property Market

What a year it has been. For estate agents servicing the residential property market across South Africa, it has been a busy year with many posting record sales. Our KZN North Coast has continued to attract semi-gration from Gauteng where our lifestyle and quality of life is a compelling enough reason for families to move to the area, enjoy all the Dolphin Coast has to offer and work remotely in the new professional world we find ourselves in.

For the most part, our connectivity is good with estates reticulated for fibre and providing the speeds that allow for remote working. Proximity to Gauteng has long been articulated as a value driver for our residential real estate markets along the North Coast and we are now seeing the full benefits of our geographical location.

To help you understand the level of transactions and the price points being achieved I have considered all registered sales for the 2021 year in several of the key markets including Zimbali Coastal Resort, Simbithi Eco-Estate and Palm Lakes Family Estate. Zimbali and Simbithi are considered the two main engines of the residential property market along the Dolphin Coast and many other estates take their lead from these two.

Almost identical in size at 450ha and 430ha respectively as well as the number of properties, with Zimbali at 1,782 and Simbithi at 1,765 properties, it makes sense to compare these two markets. Palm Lakes Family Estate has 1,257 properties and is a great example of the R2m to R4m price range.

As there is a lag in registered sales being reflected in the deeds office data, we accept that the year will close off with some additional sales activity but for the most part, our data set is a very good indicator of market activity.

For the year to date, Zimbali has delivered 64 sales with a total value of R457,750,000 and an average price of R7,152,344. Of these 33 were sectional title sales with a total value of R173,900,000 and an average price of R5,269,697. There were 31 Freehold sales to the value of R283,850,000 and an average price point of R9,156,452. The highest price transacted was R17,200,000 and the lowest was R1,450,000.

For the year to date, Simbithi has recorded 132 sales at a gross value of R678,638,999 and an average price of R5,141,205. The highest price transacted was R22m and the lowest was R360,000. Of these 63 were sectional title sales to the value of R248,678,999 and an average price point of R3,947,286. There were 69 Simbithi freehold sales to the value of R429,960,000 and an average price of R6,231,304. Interestingly the split between freehold sales and sectional title by value is very similar between Zimbali (62% of total) and Simbithi (63% of total).

I am always interested in the high end of a residential property market and if we consider the number of sales at or above R10m across Zimbali and Simbithi we see that for Zimbali there were 16 Freehold sales and 2 Sectional Title sales within this category. For Simbithi there were 6 Freehold sales above R10m and 2 Sectional Title transactions.

Palm Lakes Family Estate has delivered 86 sales so far this year to the value of R157,091,015 with an average price of R1,826,640. Of these 32 were sectional title sales with a value of R58,915,000 and 54 were Freehold sales with a gross value of R98,176,015. We see a similar type of split between freehold and sectional title with 62,50% of Palm Lakes sales, by value, being freehold and 37,50% being sectional title.

The above is a snapshot of an incredibly vibrant residential property market. We expect it to be business as usual in 2022. Wishing all the valued readers a blessed Christmas and healthy New Year.