In 2012, it appears that R614m worth of residential property was sold (this figure includes vacant land plots). In 2013 this rose by approximately 10% to R675m, and price rises have kept track with these increases.
Perhaps even more significant, said van der Merwe, is the fact that in 2013, 29 homes were sold in the R4m to R6m price bracket and 11 above R6m. These prices would five years ago have been considered almost unattainable in Hout Bay.
The average price of a home in Hout Bay last year rose to R2,570,000 and the average time taken to sell Hout Bay homes was 140 days. This last figure has dropped drastically as stock shortages are now becoming evident, says van der Merwe, and sales are typically taking 85 to 90 days.
All this, said van der Merwe, indicates what is happening in the Hout Bay property market and to put it bluntly, we have become the flavor of the month. Although he was very unwilling to reveal his own figures, he was prepared to say that his franchise's turnover over the last year had grown at a rate never before seen in the 13 years that it has been in operation.
The proactive and anti-crime actions of the new SAP's Station Commander, Colonel Mtakati, added van der Merwe, have also had a huge impact. Crime stats have been reduced year-on-year by almost 80% and continue to drop.
Also contributing to Hout Bay's increasing popularity, he said, is the fact that the commute into the city via the coastal road remains one of the quickest and easiest in the Greater Cape Town area. The new MyCiti bus service which opened recently has, said van der Merwe, been a huge success and has resulted in further speed ups in the commute to Cape Town.
Another factor now causing people to look twice at Hout Bay, he said, is the proliferation of good schools in the area. Hout Bay's International School has recently expanded its facilities, as has the My Montessori preschool. Both, said van der Merwe, have buildings with great architectural merit.
The challenge now is to find sufficient stock to meet the demand from both buyers and tenants. "A typical two bedroom apartment which in 2012 rented out at R6,000 per month is now renting at R8,000, and we are now seeing several homes renting above R35,000 per month," he said.
Asked whether he foresees the current price rises continuing, van der Merwe said that in view of the increasing demand and huge stock shortages this seems inevitable.
