Plettenberg Bay Property Sales First Quarter 2014

The first quarter has flown by with Plettenberg Bay having experienced one of its best summer holidays for many years, due in part to the magnificent weather the region enjoyed over the summer months. The swallows arrived, made a noise and have left in their droves for northern lights, while locals wait with baited breath for the Easter holiday makers to arrive. No rest for Garden Route residents.

According to local agents property sales in Plett are ‘the best’ ever with one agent advertising sales of 30 properties over the holiday period.  It should be remembered that a sale differs from SOLD and there is many a slip between signing an offer to purchase and selling your property.  A property is only SOLD when transfer takes place in the Deeds Office. 

So as we enter the end of the first quarter of the year it’s a good time to look back at property sales in the region from the beginning of the year. So, while the locals enjoyed a bumper season, The Plett property market did not fare so well - we took a look at the numbers.

In a nutshell 28 properties were sold over the three month period. On their own, these figures are relatively meaningless but if compared to sales in previous years we get a better perspective.

In 2012 a total of 72 properties sold and in 2013 a total of 67 properties sold during the same period ; in other words sales in 2014 are down 61%  in volume compared to 2012 and 58% in volume compared to 2013.

The reasons for the drop in sales for the first quarter are not 100% clear. It appears that the predicted property market recovery has not materialised; this is a reflection of the economic/political sentiment in South Africa and a general lack of financial resources for owning second homes

The trend in buyers purchasing in 2014 appears to be changing.  Sales under R2m make up the majority of sales for the three months under review; they accounted for 75% of sales in 2012, 68.65% of sales in 2013 and 60.72% of sales in 2014.  Of interest are properties selling in the R2m-R4m price range.  During 2012 16.66% of total sales and in 2013 16.42% of total sales took place in this price bracket compared to 28.57% in 2014.

The R5m- R10mpriced properties also experienced changes in purchasing patterns.  In 2012 they accounted for 4.17% of sales and in 2013 4.48% of sales yet no sales so far in 2014.

At the top end of the market, properties over R10m in value, 1.39% accounted for sales in 2012, 7.46% accounted for sales in 2013 and 3.57% for 2014.

The highest price paid for a property in 2012 was R15m for Beachy Head Drive; R23m in 2013 for a 7247m² plot on Robberg Beach and R27m in 2014 for Beachy Head Drive.

Sectional title sales remain constant and accounted for 31.94% of sales in 2012; 34.32% of sales in 2013 & 35.71% of sales in 2014.

Sea Side Longships is undoubtedly the most sought after suburb topping the leader board with 18 sales in 2012, 15 in 2013 and four so far 2014; just beating it was Whale Rock with five recorded sales in 2014.

All figures quoted regarding property transfers are taken from the deeds registry office and reflect all transfers for sales which took place in Plettenberg Bay from 1 January to 31^st March 2014. Transfer of properties for which no value is recorded have not been included in the figures quoted.Transfer for the majority of sales that took place over the height of the summer holidays are likely to take place in the next quarter.

Suburbs included in the survey are Bowtie, Brackenridge, Cutty Sark, Goose Valley, Keurboomstrand, Lower Central, Lower Robberg, Plettenberg Bay, Poortjies, River Club, Robberg Ridge, Schoongezicht, Sea Side Longships, Signal Hill, Upper Central, Upper Robberg, Whale Rock, Baron's View, Central Beach, Hobie Beach, Harkerville, Keurbooms Lagoon, Piesang Valley, Plettenberg Bay Country Club and Robberg Beach.