Offering secure estate and waterside living within easy reach of amenities in Fourways, Lone Hill, Bryanston and Pretoria and a mere 30 minutes from Lanseria Airport, it’s no wonder the residential property market in the Hartbeespoort Dam area is booming. “Our buyers are from around South Africa and some from abroad, comprising mainly primary home purchasers with some making leisure property acquisitions. Further fuelled by the flexibility to be able to work from home, we’ve noted a surge in younger and first-time buyers over the past year, as well as those in the middle-aged category,” says Erika van der Westhuizen, Pam Golding Properties area principal.
More than a quarter of recent buyers (March 2020 to February 2021) were 35 years or younger. They were mostly young families drawn by the appealing lifestyle, secure outdoor environment with views of the Magaliesberg mountains, proximity to good schools, and the convenience of being able to work from home. “Freehold homes in estates dominate this market, challenging even Ballito as a centre with a high offering of estate homes. However, sectional title homes are a close second in terms of sales, secure living being what everyone is looking for. Our vacant land sales have also increased.” Van der Westhuizen says freehold estate homes command a premium price – as much as 25% to 30% higher than freehold homes not located in estates.
“The demand continues, with sectional title homes in the R1,5m plus price range and houses in estates between R2m and R3m the most sought after. Encouragingly, we are still experiencing good momentum in activity around properties in lifestyle estates in the higher R5m to R8m price bracket.” She adds that two-thirds of all homes in Hartbeespoort, or ‘Harties’ as it is affectionately known, are in secure estates, with the vast majority being freehold.
Homes in the larger lifestyle estates such as Pecanwood, Coves, Westlake, Birdwood, Xanadu and Magalies Park, sell for an average price of R2,8m, with sectional title homes at an average of R1,5m. In estates such as Coves, Caribbean, Leloko, Xanadu, Birdwood, Montego Bay and Mount Kos, prices of sectional title apartments and townhouses range from R1,3m to R2,2m. “However, due to the high demand and limited supply we see that prices of residential property across the board are on the increase. It’s also expected that a saturation of land sales in recent years could prompt a cycle of increased demand for vacant plots, which in turn will push prices up.”
