CAPE TOWN - Demand for rental property at prime locations in Cape Town such as the Atlantic Seaboard is seeing visitors spend around R30 000 a day.
This is according to Pam Golding Properties who are seeing a trend where visitors are paying premium prices to enjoy the pristine beaches and cosmopolitan lifestyle the Mother City has to offer.
The property company said homes along the popular Atlantic Seaboard were fetching daily rentals of around R30 000 and rental activity was also accelerating across all regions with longer leases being in high demand in areas such as the Atlantic Seaboard, the City Bowl and the southern suburbs.
Dexter Leite, Pam Golding Properties rental manager for the Cape region, said many of these tenants were repeat visitors who choose to spend their holidays in Cape Town.
Leite said that with demand about to peak as Cape Town gears up for summer, Pam Golding Properties had already let a beachfront bungalow in Clifton for R23 000 a day and a large villa in Bakoven for R30 000 a day.
Leite added that according to the FNB Property Barometer, the Atlantic Seaboard and the City Bowl record the highest house price inflation rate in the Western Cape at 29.9 percent and 21.1 percent, respectively.
"Its not surprising that the rental markets in these two areas is following this demand trend. Renting is ideal for those relocating to Cape Town for a period of time, as it provides for greater flexibility than if one were to buy.
With many blue-chip companies moving into the Waterfront and City Bowl, there is also a strong market for corporate and individual rentals."
Leite added that new sectional title developments were also in huge demand, especially in the City Bowl where the live-work-play lifestyle was gaining traction where apartments with rentals between R13 000 and R18 000 were particularly sought after by young professionals.
He said there have also been requests for three bedroom homes in the City Bowl with monthly rentals between R25 000 and R45 000.
"Property price inflation in the Cape Metro remains well above the national average of 10.9 percent during the first half of the year.
For many who want to call Cape Town home, renting is a more affordable and flexible option until they have decided where to invest. There are also high-end rentals, such as a three-bedroom Mouille Point apartment with stunning sea views, available to rent for R150 000 a month. The average long-term rental for a three or four-bedroom home in Camps Bay R60 000 a month."
Leite said the southern suburbs, where there is stiff competition for access to schools in the area, had also shown a marked increase in rental activity over the past year.
Rentals include a three-bedroom Bishopscourt home for R163 800 a month and a four-bedroom home in Constantia for R100 000 a month.
A Constantia home, currently available to let for R120 000 a month, includes a well-established garden, a private swimming pool and a Jacuzzi, as well as a games room that opens up to its own putting green.
Leite said the upper end of the market, particularly in Constantia and Bishopscourt and the Steenberg Golf Estate in Tokai, had seen considerable interest from local and foreign families.
He said the northern suburbs offered affordable rental options for families, young professionals and students where properties with three bedrooms or more let for between R16 000 and R26 000 a month, while one to two bedroom apartments let for about R6 000 a month.
"The Tyger Waterfront, with its excellent security and close proximity to the Willowbridge Mall and Tygervalley Centre, is particularly popular with young professionals. Many of the tenants in the one and two bedroom apartments in Bellville, Parow and Tygervalley are students from the Stellenbosch University's Tygerberg campus or from the University of the Western Cape and Northlink College.
" Lifestyle estates are in high demand,especially with families relocating from other provinces. They often move to the northern suburbs because of the bilingual schools in the area. Monthly rentals at these estate can range from R30 000 to R50 000."