Blog March 2017 SRA, whales and property update.

Property for sale in Cape St Francis

Having just finalised our taxes and listened to Gordhan’s budget speech, we would like to wish all our clients, associates and friends a prosperous financial year. If we missed you in December we hope the start of 2017 has been excellent, and that the rest of year is filled with happiness, friends and family.

Thus far, 2017 has been a blur and finding ourselves almost at the end of the first quarter we have yet to recover after a busy summer season. Good weather was enjoyed by the visitors as you may have seen from the pics on our Facebook page. The only hiccup encountered was a powerless and candle lit 24th of December, from the panicked faces in the convenience store, it was apparent that many meals were converted to a braai, none the less the mood was festive and jovial.

If you don’t know yet, St Francis Bay is pursuing the establishment of a Special Rates Area, for more information please visit their website here. Some residents in Cape St Francis would like our village to join their application; others strongly oppose Cape St Francis’s inclusion. The process requires property owners to vote thus, we suggest you familiarize yourself with the proposed SRA, should Cape St Francis join the fray.

A whale was removed from our beach early January, with over 200 chiefs on the beach the Indians had a difficult task and tempers flared. Fortunately the carcass was removed and the site was cleaned with bio-degradable chemicals. Bathers were back in the water in no time and the beach was packed once more.

The final repairs on the lighthouse are being performed. The exterior is finished and the interior is getting a make-over at the moment, the building is in excellent shape. According to those working on site, the damp issues in a building built in 1878 are more severe than the average house in the village! The ETA on completion is still unknown but we will inform you once it is open to visitors.

Foster has issued a press release indicting a new specie discovery in the Irma Booysen Reserve, the Leaproach. It out jumps a grasshopper and was first discovered in the Cape Floristic Region in 2011, the specimen found represents the eastern most discovery. Read more about it here and remember that subscriptions for 2017 are currently due; any donations received would be appreciated.

Cape St Francis has also received some exposure on News24 recently, with an informative article on the area which you can read here. The character of Cape St Francis will remain small, non-commercial and focused on the surrounding environment. Our nature reserves, pristine beach and wild rocky coastline are what define Cape St Francis.

Lastly the property front has seen a substantial improvement; we have noticed a distinct increase in sales volumes in Cape St Francis over the last 18 months. Seal Point Estates did R17 million worth of sales in 2016 and thus far we have sold just over R8 million for 2017. This bodes well for 2017 although it is a fragile recovery and prices are not what they used to be prior to the crises in 2008. The central and old village area of Cape St Francis is still where the majority of demand is, this area has seen prices shifting up a notch. With numerous renovations and re-builds taking place, Cape St Francis is attracting a contemporary buyer who values the unencumbered outdoors. The old fishing cottages along the beach front and Queen of the West are slowly being replaced with large modern homes.

As we say goodbye to one generation of Cape St Francis (resident Joy Wicks) we welcome a young family to the village and the story of Cape St Francis continues. If you are selling your property or looking for a home in which to relocate or enjoy holidays, we can make it happen and have been doing so for over 30 years, spanning two generations.

All the Best

Jal and Frieda Rigaard