MAINIMAGE: Samuel Seeff, chairman of Seeff Property Group
Seeff Property Group
An analysis of the average selling prices across the country by the Seeff Property Group this year reveals that nine of the most expensive suburbs are in Cape Town. Only Sandhurst from the Sandton/Joburg area makes it into the top ten.
These top ten suburbs now all command an average price well above R10 million, and in the top suburbs, the average is now just about R20 million (Clifton and Bantry Bay).
Notably, where there were three Sandton/Joburg suburbs in the top ten list five years ago, this year, there is only Sandhurst, although it boasts a marked uptick in the median price.
Interestingly Higgovale in the Cape Town City Bowl is now also in the top ten list. It once again stands as testimony to the allure of Cape Town, but more than that, the absolute confidence in the Cape Town property market, says Samuel Seeff, chairman of the group.
Cape Town is not just the best city in the world, as voted for the eighth year running by the Telegraph Travel Awards this year, but the best place to invest your property money, according to Seeff. Seeff says that wealthy Joburg buyers and international buyers are all investing in Cape Town, and their confidence has been rewarded.
Despite a challenging year, Cape Town is set to end another exceptional year for the property market with an average transaction price of R2.1 million, according to Lightstone data.
Comparatively, Johannesburg only reached R1.6m, Pretoria R1.5m, and Durban R1.3m. Sandton averaged around Sandton R2.3 million compared to the Atlantic Seaboard, which stands at around R8.2 million based on Propstats sales data.
The average transaction price for Cape Town doubled over the last ten years and is up by about 35% from the 2019 pre-pandemic year. Cape Town also again achieved the country’s highest average prices this year.
Ross Levin, licensee for Seeff Atlantic Seaboard, says it is no surprise that 7 of the top 10 suburbs are located in the premier Atlantic Seaboard and City Bowl belt, where buyers have spent on average more over the last three years.
He says further that despite the market challenges, the market here has traded slightly up on last year, which was already very successful. The market has been made up of a greater quantity of deals, albeit at lower price bands. That said, the market at the upper end still traded up compared to the 2019 pre-pandemic period.
SA’s Top Ten Super Luxury Suburbs by Average Selling Price in 2023
| RANK | SUBURB | AREA | MEDIAN PRICE | HIGHEST PRICE ACHIEVED |
| 1 | Clifton | Atlantic Seaboard | R25M | R150M |
| 2 | Bantry Bay | Atlantic Seaboard | R22M | R60M |
| 3 | Llandudno | Atlantic Seaboard | R19.95M | R33M |
| 4 | Sandhurst | Sandton/Joburg | R19M | |
| 5 | Bishopscourt | Southern Suburbs | R17.55M | R90M |
| 6 | Higgovale | City Bowl | R16.2M | R33M |
| 7 | Waterfront | Atlantic Seaboard | R15.2M | R54M |
| 8 | Fresnaye | Atlantic Seaboard | R15M | R71.25M |
| 9 | Camps Bay | Atlantic Seaboard | R14.8M | R42M |
| 10 | Constantia Upper | Southern Suburbs | R13.1M | R70M |
Source: Seeff, based on Lightstone/Propstats data
The Southern Suburbs areas have also achieved an excellent year under the circumstances, with close to R5.5 billion in sales this year. Hout Bay has also enjoyed another exceptional year with sales of over R1 billion and the great Blouberg over R2 billion.
Luxury buyers continued to flock to Constantia Upper and Bishopscourt, says Francois Venter, lead agent for Seeff Constantia. There have already been ten high-value sales above R20 million in Constantia and 8 in Bishopscourt, the highest on record in both instances. Luxury rentals have achieved rates of up to R120,000 per month in Constantia, according to Jacqui Bush and Sonya Garisch from Seeff.
According to the CCID State of Cape Town report released earlier this year, there has been an increase in new businesses opening, and the city awaits the opening of Amazon in the new year. Development is ongoing; the city is at work getting things done everywhere you look.
Several pillars support the Cape Town property market, says Seeff. Aside from own-use residential sales, it has a buoyant rental market for residential and short-term rentals, making Airbnb investments a lucrative option, especially with tourism growing. On top of that, the market is further boosted by an influx of semigration and international buyers and tenants.
Seeff says buyers across the price spectrum continue seeing Cape Town as a safe store of wealth. We have seen wealthy buyers from upcountry and internationally are prepared to put significant funds into the property market. In fact, many Europeans have preferred to invest here over the last two years as they are not as bothered about local challenges as we are.
