Not only does Port Elizabeth have a moderate climate, beautiful beaches and excellent schools it also offers great value for money when it comes to property, with lower average prices than any of the other top nine municipal metro areas.
A recent report by property company HomeBid found that Port Elizabeth’s average home price was transferred at R661,552.
“In fact, Port Elizabeth is the cheapest area to live in among the top nine metro areas monitored by HomeBid and for those who live there it offers a great quality of life, providing you have stable employment,” says Neville Berkowitz, property economist and adviser to HomeBid.
Development demand
Pam Golding Properties area principal for Port Elizabeth, Ian Olivier, says the city still has a large amount of land available for development which assisted with the demand.
“Port Elizabeth has also been seen as an industrial city but I think as people become more and more aware of what we have to offer here we may see demand increase significantly. We are keeping up with the trend at the moment and properties under R1m are the most sought after,” he said. Property prices are often linked to salaries in the town.
“The price of property in Port Elizabeth is lower than that in Johannesburg and Cape Town because the salaries here are lower. But while we may not have those salaries we do have a better quality of life,” Olivier said.
Jaco Rademeyer from Jaco Rademeyer Estates agreed that the most activity is in the R800,000 to R1,2m price bracket.
“I get very excited when I put a property priced around R800,000 to R900,000 on the market. That market is booming at the moment and those are the properties that sell very quickly. The wonderful thing is that price will get you a fantastic home in Port Elizabeth in most areas which will come with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and even a pool with a nice sized garden. Especially in the Westering area.”
Words: Lee-Anne Butler
Images: Supplied
