Vacation rents soar on Cape Riviera

cocoparisienne via pixabay

"It's been a bumper holiday season for the owners of rental homes on the Riviera of Cape Town, the ribbon of prime coastal property that stretches from the V&A Waterfront on the north shore of Table Mountain all the way down the west side of the Cape Peninsula to Hout Bay," said Charl and Adél Louw, principals of the Chas Everitt International franchise on the Atlantic Seaboard.

"Daily rentals of R5,000 to R6,000 for a two- to three-bedroom apartment in Bantry Bay or Clifton were easily obtained, while a spacious eight-bedroom, multilevel villa with every mod con and panoramic views we have on our books achieves as much as R150,000 a day in season," they said.

The rentals were also being driven by locals.

Landlords made their properties available for short-term tenancies at daily rates from December to the end of February, and then rented them out on a nine- or 10-month winter lease, said Chas Everitt.

The Western Cape season is considered to have lengthened.

Ruth Munitz, head of Seeff SHORTSTAY Atlantic Seaboard and City Bowl, said many tourists booked from before December to as late as March. "We are expecting quite a few people renting top rental houses in February and March when Cape Town's weather is a bit cooler. Also, there is an increased interest from people who want to take two- to three-month sabbaticals or relocations and are prepared to pay rentals way above market averages.

"It is common for people to phone and negotiate monthly rentals in this busy period, which means rentals are very varied. Paying anything from R5,000 a day to R20,000 a day is not uncommon," she said.

Source: Business Day