Property Newsletter | September 2021

Towns with churn

New developments driving activity in selected towns

New property developments are driving churn in towns across the country, although in St Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape the churn is down to repeat sales.

We used our data to identify and rank suburbs of interest by their level of sales activity as defined by percentage of churn over the last year. (The percentage churn of an area is calculated by dividing the number of transactions over a period by the number of properties within the area).

Highlighted towns: % churn

Towns with very high churn activity

Towns with very high activity are Alberton in Gauteng, Hartenbos in the Western Cape and Secunda in Mpumalanga.

Properties – including stands and built houses – in the area are being transferred on average in 2021 for R1.1m, which is moving towards the high of R1.279m recorded in 2018.

Hartenbos: Monte Christo Eco Estate, Outeniquasbosch

While Mossel Bay is attractive to the 50+ market, Sky City and Watervalspruit in Alberton are popular with first-time buyers (83%), most of whom (67%) are younger than 35.

Alberton: Sky City, Watervalspruit

First time buyers account for 83% of total sales in 2021, down from 88% in 2018. The age profile has remained consistent over the four years, with around two thirds of buyers being under 35.

In Mpumalanga, Terra Nova Lifestyle Estate in Secunda is popular with those who are 35 and below (59%) and 36-49 (30%), and most are repeat buyers (61%). 370 new properties have been registered since 2019, the average purchase price of properties – including stands and built houses – is R668 149 and 146 transfers have taken place in 2021. The average purchase price has fallen consistently since 2018, when it stood at R830 317.

Secunda: Terra Nova Lifestyle Estate

In terms of age profile, more sales have been recorded in 2021 to the 36-49 age group, and 65+ while sales to 50-64 age group have fallen to 8% from 14% in 2019. Repeat buyers in Secunda / Govan Mbeki accounted for 61% of sales in 2021, down from 71% in 2020.

Towns with high churn activity

Most of the transfer activity in Ballito is driven by new properties in Estates and Sectional Title developments such as Ballito Hills Lifestyle Estate. A property in Ballito currently sells for on average R2.1m, down from R2.5m in 2018. The number of transfers in 2021 is already at 842, up on 2018’s 744 and it is expected transfers will exceed the 868 recorded in 2020.

Ballito

The age profile of buyers in Ballito has been consistent, although in 2021 there was a significant increase in buyers below 35, while buyers older than 65 appear to be falling for the third consecutive year.

In the Eastern Cape buyers in the town of St Francis Bay are middle to mature (35-64) and the churn in St Francis Bay is mainly due to activity in St Francis Links, and the average price of a property is R1.6m, which is well up on the R1.4m recorded in 2019. More transfers have taken place in 2021 than in any of the three previous years, and the number is expected to climb still further in the months remaining.

St Francis Bay

In Hartbeespoort in Northwest, 198 new properties have been registered since 2019, 82% in Estates and most are stands. Estate d’Afrique is the major contributor towards the activity in the area.

Properties in Hartebeespoort are selling on average for R1.4m in 2021, a decline from the just more than R1.5m recorded in 2020, while transfers have dropped from 680 in 2018 to 561 in 2021.

Hartebeespoort

Towns with medium churn activity

The Hoedspruit Wildlife Estate is driving activity in Hoedspruit (Limpopo), the Kalahari Golf and Hunting Estate is energising Kathu (Northern Cape), while Club Milos and Willow Creek Riverfront Residential Estate have been the centre of activity in Sasolburg in the Free State.