Beach Flats Are Flying

If you look up from the Promenade at the beachfront apartments and think, ‘I could really live there’, the suggestion would be ‘Hurry’. You’re not alone. For the past 18 months, demand is rocketing, prices are escalating, and stock is low

In the space of 18 months, Durban beachfront apartments have become sizzling hot property. Wakefields Real Estate’s beach branch – 15 years right there at the heart of it all – sees it on a daily basis. Many of their 20-strong sales team live in the area, know the different blocks, and are in touch with the community and the happenings. Their sales have increased substantially. Clearly, the beachfront’s on the move.

This surge in interest is not being driven solely by one motivating factor, but a number of them. The key drawcard is the actual beachfront, which has reinvented itself as the heart of weekend entertainment - family activities, from cycling to fun runs, surfing and skateboarding, coffees and get-togethers with friends. It’s clean, safer and vibrant. And not only on the weekends.  

As Myles Wakefield, CEO of Wakefields Real Estate says, “This groundswell of interest in beachfront property is an offshoot of that general migration from freestanding homes to lock-up-and-go ones. The majority of buyers are those choosing to live in these apartments, so a real community, rather than a holiday-maker culture, is growing here.”

Traditionally, most blocks are share block, which limits the pool of buyers to those with cash. In addition, some apartments have no off-street parking or only have roster parking (a waiting list). But buyers now see the major advantages of share block – the buildings are well kept, strictly controlled, often don’t allow holiday letting (constant changes of occupants has a negative impact on a block), and the financials are healthy. In short, the blocks are ruled strictly, and it shows inside and out – property values are secure.    

In response to demand, the value of property on both north and south beach is escalating fast. A 2-bedroomed apartment, parking on a roster, in a sought -after shareblock block - close to Suncoast Hotel & Casino - second row back, would have achieved R900,000 last year, and this year sold for R1.2m. On South Beach, a two-bedroomed sectional title flat with parking, one road back from the beach, no views, sold for R550, 000 last year, and resold for R660,000 this month. Frontline shareblock bachelor flats with no parking - or parking on roster - sold for around R450,000 last year - this year, R600,000. The numbers tell the tale.

Because of the financial/loan implications, the biggest demand is for north beach sectional title apartments: “They’re few and far between,” says Wakefield, “and sell overnight. Johannesburg investors have seen the opportunity, so competition is fierce which drives up the prices.”

Investor confidence certainly doesn’t end at the beachfront. Renewed impetus at the Point Waterfront and the rejuvenation of the CBD, is drawing young investors – local and national - and first-time homeowners who’re now in a position to buy. Wakefields says, “Sales are buoyant. This is the time to buy, and the large Wakefields team has its finger on the pulse. Living and working in the area, means they’re first with the news. In a market like this, that’s what you need.”