CAPE TOWN - Cape Town is home to nine of the ten most expensive suburbs in South Africa, the latter being Johannesburg.
This is according to a study conducted by Seeff, based on data from Lightstone and Propstats for the period December 2011 to 2016/17.
Despite the current economic constraint, properties in Cape Town are still selling at excellent prices, said Samuel Seeff, the chairman of the Seeff Property Group.
According to Seeff, a number of recent high value transactions on the Atlantic Seaboard include R54 million for three sales ranging to R27m in Camps Bay, a single sale of R82m in Fresnaye, a record sale of R32m in Hout Bay and R34m in Higgovale in the City Bowl.
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Seeff notes that Clifton topped the list with an average selling price of R23m while only one Johannesburg / Sandton with Sandhurst ranked in the top ten at fourth place with an average selling price of R16.5m, two places lower since late 2015, while Westcliff and Dunkeld, had dropped off the top ten list altogether.
The Top Ten
Clifton (R23m)
Llandudno (R17m)
Bantry Bay (R16.9m)
Sandhurst (R16.5m)
Fresnaye (R16m)
Waterfront (R16m)
Higgovale (R16m)
Bishopscourt (R15.1m)
Constantia Upper (R11.6m)
Seeff observed that the decline in the rankings of the top end Johannesburg and Sandton suburbs had become even more prominent in the R20m-plus super luxury sector.
He added that wealthy buyers were not investing at the same levels in Sandton, and even less so in Pretoria East .
"As we can see, there just is not the same level of confidence. Why? Well, buyers and property investors, not just at the top end of the market, but across the board, want to know that they are investing in areas where service delivery and zero tolerance for corruption are hallmarks. They want to know that their investment is not just safe, but that it will grow in value."
However, Johannesburg has recently enjoyed a rental market boost of approximately R6.4 billion.
READ ALSO: Johannesburg rental market gets a big boost
Notably, the recent market boost by Balwin Properties and AltX-listed Transcend Residential Property Fund is aimed at delivering 8 900 affordable rental apartments.
There is no spoken plans earmarked for Johannesburg to invest in expensive homes, thus leaving Cape Town to set the mark.