07 July 2011

Ballinrobe: Still Selling or Buyers Bailing?

Reader JP writes:
It's been a year since it's been completed but the Ballinrobe is still trying to sell all it's units. Either that or the people who bought off plan are bailing. Which is worse?

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know a few people who have managed to sell their properties and have taken their money out of the country. In Constantia all sales are purely to take the money out of the country. It seems people expect the country to have riots like in the Middle East and to become like Zimbabwe. People are bailing out of off plans as well. The situation is critical but of course it is kept "secret" it seems

Bean Counter said...

I know a few people who think that the Holocaust never happened. However, I also know it is incredibly foolish to base one's world-view on anecdotes told by anxious, paranoid, insular and largely uninformed people.

I'm not saying SA's future is rosy, but for God's sake, please understand that fearful white folks have been selling up and getting ready to flee since 1651.

Anonymous said...

Anon 1 must know a lot of people. I don't know a soul that has sold up and moved abroad.

An interesting article today mentions that: "the most dramatic decline has occurred in Seapoint where there were only 91 sales in the first five months of this year compared with 767 registered sales in 2010".

That's just an outrageous number if you ask me. So by that information we should only see about 200 properties sold in Sea Point this year. That's a 74% drop in sales numbers since 2010.

http://www.property24.com/articles/atlantic-seaboard-sales-fall-sharply/13780

My experience in Sea Point is that you can't get a decent flat for under 1.2 bar. The same of which were punting off at 300k a pop 10 years ago. That's double inflation figures if not more.

The value of something is always what someone else is willing to pay. Looks to me like nobody is willing to pay it.

Goldilocks said...

A timely conversation it seems.

After returning from a holiday in the UK visiting family and doing all the research and figures I have decided to emigrate.

SA is twice as expensive as the UK according to my circumstances; yes twice as expensive. A decade ago I decided to stay but most pros have moved to the opposite column in the last 10 years.

The UK is not a promised land, there are many problems, however crunching the numbers and researching trends has led to this conclusion.

Anon 2 - I know a few people who have returned from overseas in the last 3 years; one couple for lifestyle, one from the economic downturn, one for family. I also know 2 families who are leaving soon for many of the same reasons as myself. People come and go all the time for different reasons.

Anonymous said...

As a gent who sells high end leg cream and earns well in excess of R100k a month, I appreciate the store rooms. However, there is only 1 parking bay in the R3.75m flat which is not good. Where are my lady friends supposed to park when they "visit" ?

Anonymous said...

As a gent who sells high end leg cream and earns well in excess of R100k a month, I appreciate the store rooms. However, there is only 1 parking bay in the R3.75m flat which is not good. Where are my lady friends supposed to park when they "visit" ?

John said...

I went to look at a property a few months ago (now sold), 2 old chaps originally from England. Selling so that they can move back as medical costs here have got too much for them. We have had 14 friends and relatives visit in the last 12 months and ALL of them have commented on how expensive SA has become.

Unknown said...

@ All who want to Stay or Go

Crunch the numbers, weigh the pros & cons and make your decision.

But please, whenever you arrive in your new country, please don’t tell us how good it is there, so as to justify your decision to move.

You’ll be back in Africa before you know it.

Anonymous said...

@ Eric, I agree.

Each person has their own reasons for staying or going and must make up their mind. If they decide to go, they must go and not look back.

What really pi$$es me of are those that emigrate and then spend vast amounts of time and enery bad mouthing South Africa to anyone or anything that will listen.

You will usually find that these people are the ones who are still uncertain in their decision and need to justify their actions. These people are not a loss to South Africa but a drain on any country because of their negativity.

Anonymous said...

Hi John

SA is currently very expensive for the those with Pounds or Dollars. The exchange rate has swung massively against them but SA prices have continued to rise.

And yes this is a big hint that the Rand is currently over-valued.

L.S.

Goldilocks said...

All,

This is about currency devaluation and extortion by monopoly and oligarchy.

Far too often people get emotional about the stay/go issue which is known as patriotism. I believe in the sovereign individual rather.

As a quick rundown on my findings. On a pure rand to GBP basis I found; rents equivalent to there, food equivalent to twice as expensive there, vehicles half price there, industrial equipment half price there, books electronics etc half price, clothing equivalent to half price there, communications a fraction of what it is here, electricity equivalent, petrol 35% more expensive there. Healthcare free.

Now the UK adjusts SA purchasing power on a 3.2:1 basis officially. I found that to be the high end and on the low end 2:1.

So using the low end ratio it means you earn twice as much. Now have another look at the costs above and adjust accordingly.

So where is all this value that is available in the UK to its citizens, but not available to us here? Who is this value flowing to?

ex Wall Street said...

Unfortunately there are loads of people I know that are leaving. I love CT and would do anything to stay here but the time has come to leave. Putting the crime, corruption and high cost of living aside, it is sad that a village idiot (with an F for woodwork) has the influence to drive my family and I out of this country.

I will and have never bad mouthed SA when abroad but deep down I have major concerns about this place.

Have a mint Audi R8 and the wife's Range Rover Supercharged if anyone is looking.