Trend report: La Lucia

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Adrian Goslett, CEO of RE/MAX Southern Africa, says that demand for property in La Lucia has remained fairly stable over the last year, with sales volumes picking up over the December holiday period. He notes that this is due to the fact that many holidaymakers visit the area and fall in love with the lifestyle that's on offer.

According to Lightstone statistics, the area has been particularly popular among buyers under the age of 50 years old, with around 40.31% of recent buyers between the ages of 36 and 49 years old. This demographic currently accounts for around 37.15% of existing homeowners in the area. The area is also popular among younger buyers aged between 18 and 35 years old. While they are not as active as their older counterparts, they account for around 33.33% of recent buyers who purchased property in La Lucia between February 2013 and January 2014. Grant Gavin, Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Panache which operates in La Lucia and surrounds, says that this can be attributed mainly to the proximity of La Lucia to great schools, all of which require residence in their catchment areas as requirements for application, as well as to the fact that many large corporates have recently built or relocated their offices to the La Lucia Ridge business precinct.

Gavin adds that purchasers have an option of upmarket security complexes, a large security estate called 'The Gardens' and freehold homes on generous plot sizes, most with swimming pools and ocean views. Property in La Lucia consists of 46.46% sectional title units, 41.87% freehold homes and 11.66% estates.

Property price trends

He notes that while the recession did have a minor impact on the property prices in the area, which dipped slightly in 2008, the property market in La Lucia came out fairly unscathed. The average price for property in 2007, widely regarded as the peak of the boom, was around R2.839m for a freehold property and R2.289m for a sectional title unit. Currently property prices in the area are higher than boom time prices with the average price of a freehold property at R2.984 million and R2.487m for a sectional title unit.

According to Goslett, the stable pricing is due to the steady demand for property in the area. He notes that given the long-term demand for seaside properties in general and the limited supply thereof, prices are bound to increase even more over time.

Demand for property

Goslett says that more than half of the properties sold in the area between February 2013 and January 2014 were priced between R1.5m and R3m, making this the most popular price bracket by far. Around 39.1% of the properties sold during this period were priced above R3 million, while approximately 6.4% were priced from R800,000 to R1.5m. Property below R400,000 and those priced between R400,000 and R800,000, each accounted for 0.6% of the area's sales during this time frame.