Prices of sectional title property were virtually unchanged on average last month and about 4% up on a year ago. However, on the Atlantic Seaboard, prices of flats dipped 11% on average in a month to R1 990 000 and were about 3% lower than a year ago.
26 December 2006
Atlantic Seaboard: Prices Drop
Over at Cape Property Services, Tom Hood's latest November 2006 housing report has a number of suprises:
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2 comments:
That's an interesting site you have linked to ... I see a house in Higgovale sold for 2m less than its advertised price to a foreigner. I happen to know that area quite well - a few things the estate agent might have failed to mention to our enthusiastic overseas buyer -
1/ 200m metres up the road from the house a female resident was attacked in the street by a mugger trying to stab her in the neck with a knife
2/ The same woman's teenage son was in an attempted highjack in the same spot by 2 armed attackers a few months later
3/Around the corner a few years back a female house guest was subjected to a gang rape attempt in the house she was visiting
4/The foreigners in another multi million rand house just down the road returned from overseas to discover that their Malawian caretaker had trashed their merc and emptied their home of all the contents and had disappeared.
5/What used to be a quiet safe unassuming area has in recent years seen fences go up, then electrified fences and razor wire followed. In recent months gun shots have been heard at night time.
6/It is rare to see people walking in the streets.
The sad thing is, this is one of Cape Town's safer areas ! These are just the incidents I have heard about - judging by the anti intruder deterrents going up ( some homes in the area have personal guards outside), there are many more crime stories going on.
My prediction is that the overseas "investor" will walk away from his Higgovale "investment" in a few years time after experiencing that views lose their charm when you fear for your life, and after houseprice drops, rand depreciation, foreigners tax and buying / selling costs, he will be several hundred UK pounds out of pocket ... the days of foreigners making a killing in the SA property market are long gone.
Higgovale is dead bang in the middle of it all.
Table Mountain has become a muggers paradise, Camps Bay is full of cruising tik addicts looking to murder and steal, the city center is one large 24 hour drug supermarket and the "rejuvenated" (hallelujah, praise the Lord) Woodstock is as deadly and crazy as it was.
Vredehoek next door, is a fast becoming a murderers playground not to mention the squatters moving in in droves.
I couldnt recommend a single place on the Atlantic seaboard when one would not be subject to violent crime so the only advice I would give to a foreigner is dont buy at all in the messed up country until such time the situation improves.
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