January 2019 | Property Market Update

Cape St Francis summer beach vibe!

We hope you had a good holiday season and enjoyed it with family and friends. We wish you all the best for 2019, may it be a happy and healthy year ahead.

Below you will find our post-season reflection on the property market of Cape St Francis. We trust that you will find this transparent assessment helpful going forward with your listing. overall, the fact remains that Cape St Francis continues to outperform the negative national property market, likely due to our village being a haven and bubble from which to escape the headlines of our country and the unique lifestyle it offers.

The lead up to Christmas and the preceding month we noted a decrease in inquiries and sales. This was one of the quieter seasons we've experienced in recent years, a quick glance at our visitor’s record reinforced this. A similar experience was shared by our colleagues and neighbours in St Francis Bay. Fortunately, just before the new year there was an increase in flyers being taken from our shop and more clients engaging us with property related discussions and property viewings. Just after the new year we sold a house for R1.7mil, we also noted only one other sale for R 1.6mil during the season in Cape St Francis, confirming that the market under R2mil is still the most active in Cape St Francis. The entry-level market is showing the most turnover presently, with all the properties listed selling relatively quickly. In conclusion, our impression of the summer season was disappointing when compared to the previous 24 months of relatively good property turnover.

Considering the current listings in Cape St Francis, we are of the opinion that the market for properties over R3.5 mil is very competitive with a higher than average number of properties listed in this high-end bracket. Having experienced very few inquiries in this segment and having confirmed with numerous sellers that no offers had been made, we encourage a re-evaluation of strategy.

Vacant land saw good turnover the last 12 months, consequently edging the entry level prices up into the R400 000's. Listings available with sea views and adjacent to nature areas are limited and we expect the uptick in prices of vacant land to slowly continue.

We trust this general review of the Cape St Francis property market will be of value to you in 2019.

All the best

Jal and Frieda Rigaard

Seal Point Estates

No. 5 Da Gama Road, Cape St Francis