House hunting in... South Africa
Category Property News
A VILLA OVERLOOKING THE ATLANTIC IN CAPE TOWN $4.03 MILLION (65 MILLION RAND)
This four-bedroom five-bath home in the beachside suburb of Clifton, on Cape Town's Atlantic seaboard, takes its design cues from Bali - airy bedroom pavilions, dark woods and stone tiling. Renovated in 2014, this 6,400-square-foot home sits on a quarter-acre on the slopes of Lion's Head mountain, a short stroll from Clifton's white sand beaches. The home's open-plan living spaces are wrapped around an interior courtyard with foldaway glass doors and a retractable electric glass roof.
There is a large dining room as well as a covered dining terrace facing the water. The kitchen has a walk-in cold room, bright red high-gloss lacquer cabinets and black Caesarstone countertops. All four bedrooms face the ocean and have en-suite baths. Additional features in the master suite include a sun deck, a circular, free-standing bathtub and a double rain shower. The private yard in back has a barbecue area, whirlpool and swimming pool.
One wall of the pool is glass, "so that when one sits in the courtyard, one looks directly into the swimming pool," said Adrien Epstein, an agent with DGÂ Properties in Cape Town, which has the listing for the home. Other amenities include a 300-bottle wine cellar and a sauna. The home has staff accommodations consisting of a bedroom, a living area, a kitchen and a bath. The attached garage holds four cars.
Clifton is renowned for its four beaches, as well as its cliffside homes and reliably turquoise-tinted water. Nearby Camps Bay is a tourist haven, with its busy beachfront strip of restaurants, shops and bars. Lion's Head looms over all this beach activity, one among a chain of mountains that form Table Mountain National Park, the dramatic backdrop for Cape Town life.
"The mountain views are to some more stunning than the ocean," said Amanda Croker, an agent with Engel & Völkers in Cape Town. MARKET OVERVIEW The combination of a favorable exchange rate, a shortage of available properties (partly because of a diminishing supply of developable land) and the pleasant climate has driven up prices along Cape Town's Atlantic coast at unprecedented rates, agents say. "With the downturn in the local currency, it's making it very cheap for foreigners to buy," said DGÂ Properties.
Over the last year, prices across all ranges have risen an average of 25 percent to 30 percent, with luxury apartment values escalating the most, said Laurie Wener, managing director for the Western Cape region for Pam Golding Properties, a real estate firm covering sub-Saharan Africa. "The Atlantic seaboard has really become the place where people want to retire," she said. "There are some very luxurious apartments to choose from with views of sea and mountains. And from an investment point of view, it's a very recession-proof market. It's quite densely populated, but prices hold."
While Clifton boasts some of the most expensive real estate in South Africa, with top-tier properties trading at well over 100 million rand ($6.2 million), according to Ms. Croker, other beach communities are gaining ground. For example, she said, Camps Bay broke its record sale price three times last year, with the new high now being 46 million rand, about $2.9 million. WHO BUYS IN CAPE TOWN Cape Town is particularly desirable for European buyers because it can be reached via a manageable overnight flight with minimal time change.
People come for just a few months or half the year - usually between September and April, the warmest months, Ms. Wener said. While foreign buyers used to be predominantly English, Irish or German, the mix has broadened to include Italians, French, Scandinavians, Swiss and Eastern Europeans, Ms. Croker said. More South Africans from outside the area are also buying along Cape Town's coast, a trend that has been helped along by the telecommuting lifestyle. As for buyers from the United States, "we see the odd American," she said, "but with the long haul across the date line, they are few and far between."
BUYING BASICS
There are no legal restrictions on foreigners buying property in South Africa, but there is a ceiling on their borrowing ability. Nonresidents can borrow up to half of the purchase price from a local bank, so long as they can provide proof of earnings and comply with other laws aimed at curbing money laundering, according to information provided by Pam Golding Properties.
The buyer pays for the lawyer, who handles the transaction for both parties. The real estate agent commission is included in the purchase price and payable by the seller. "I do also recommend that my purchasers get an engineer's report on any property that they are contemplating purchasing for their ease of mind," Ms. Croker said. The cost is usually 5,000 to 7,000 rand (about $310 to $430).
Author: Lisa Prevost - New York Times - International Real Estate