Luxury Suburbs: Still takers at the top end
Category Financial Mail - Cover Story
THOUGH SA’s ultra-expensive residential hotspots have not necessarily produced the same level of capital growth as their more modestly priced counterparts in recent times, trophy home destinations traditionally favoured by the big spenders haven’t lost their cachet.
Latest data on SA’s luxury housing market from Lightstone and New World Wealth confirms that the Western Cape’s posh Atlantic seaboard, arguably SA’s most expensive stretch of real estate, as well as Bryanston, Sandhurst and Hyde Park in Johannesburg, still boast the highest concentration of multimillionaires in SA.
Exclusive golf estates such as Zimbali on KwaZulu Natal’s north coast, Erinvale in Somerset West, Pearl Valley in Paarl, and Steenberg and Silverhurst in Constantia are not far behind.
Johannesburg’s nouveau riche are gravitating towards Waterfall Equestrian Estate near Midrand, Meyersdal Nature Estate in Alberton, and golf estates Dainfern in Fourways and Blair Atholl near Lanseria airport.
Waterfall Equestrian Estate was until recently believed to be SA’s priciest gated enclave, where a R130m house on 2,6ha was completed two years ago.
That was before insurance tycoon Douw Steyn built his lavish mansion at new mixed-use lifestyle estate Steyn City in Fourways at a cost of a staggering R250m, setting a record for SA residential property values.
However, an address in the right suburb is not necessarily enough. The seriously wealthy also choose their street. According to Lightstone, the most expensive streets on the Atlantic seaboard, where sales of R30m plus are par for the course, include Nettleton and Clifton roads in Clifton, De Wet Road and Ocean View Drive in nearby Bantry Bay, Alexandra Avenue and Avenue Deauville in Fresnaye, Sunset Close in Llandudno and Theresa Avenue in Bakoven.
Seeff Atlantic seaboard agent Lance Cohen says these exclusive streets all tend to offer spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean and Twelve Apostles, as well as easy access to Cape Town’s best beaches, restaurants, shops and night life.
Nettleton Road, which commands average prices of around R100 000/m², is the highest located street in Clifton, thus offering sweeping views as well as much-prized privacy. The same applies to Clifton Road.
Cohen says the cheapest property now on the market in Nettleton Road has a price tag of R39m. The highest price achieved in this street to date is R65m (2010). However, some homes are valued in excess of R120m.
A vacant plot of 1 242m², which was sold for R35m in 2012, was resold at R68,3m last year.
Cohen recently received an offer of a cool R145m for two adjacent vacant plots, together close to 4 000m², but the offer was rejected by the owner.
Incidentally, Main Road in Cape Town’s Green Point is singled out in UK-based property group Knight Frank’s latest Wealth Report as one of five up-and-coming global residential streets to watch.
Johannesburg’s millionaires’ row includes Fourth Road in Hyde Park and Coronation Road in Sandhurst. Ronald Ennik of Gauteng-based Ennik Estates says prices of up to R50m have also recently been achieved on viewsite properties in Bryanston’s Eccleston Crescent and Mount Street.
Bryanston typically attracts new money — high net worth individuals in the 35-50 age bracket with a preference for recently built or newly renovated homes equipped with the latest bells and whistles.
Ennik says well-treed, boomed-off and thus highly secure Fourth Road in Hyde Park attracts some of Johannesburg’s wealthiest captains of industry. And though demand for super luxury homes in the R30m-R60m range in Johannesburg has yet to recover to the same extent as it has in Cape Town, Ennik says there are a number of homes in Fourth Road that are worth up to R100m.
Ennik says Pretoria has also started to clock up some multimillion-rand sales. Premier country estate Cornwall Hill, near the quaint village of Irene, south of the city, and equestrian estate Mooikloof on the eastern outskirts lead the pack.
Ennik achieved a record sales price of R22m in Cornwall Hill two years ago. At Mooikloof, buyers are not averse to forking out up to R18m for palatial homes on stands of up to 12 000m².
Author: Joan Muller
