2019 Property Sales in Plettenberg Bay - a look back.

2019 Property Sales in Plettenberg Bay - a look back.

2020 has thrown the entire world into a tailspin with the Covid-19 virus affecting every country and everyone. While our government has acted swiftly and decisively, our already fragile economy will have to weather this storm as well. And while the authorities try to balance the public's health with the threat of a recession/depression, we all hunker down at home and try to work whenever possible. It's almost impossible to predict what this year or the next will bring property wise; the situation is best summed up by SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter." who said recently,  "Whatever crystal ball you may look into now, you are likely to be wrong."

Looking back

We all know by now that last year was not a great one for the property market, both locally and around the country. But with hindsight being 2020, and 2020 a time of huge uncertainty, last year is not looking so bad after all. Let's take a look at the numbers and salient points from 2019's property sales in the Plettenberg Bay region.

Sales dropped by 19% in 2019 compared to the previous year (470 sales compared to 577 in 2018).

Keurboomstrand retained its top spot as best selling suburb with 101 sales compared to 93 in 2018. Of these sales, about 58% (59 properties) were below R2M, 15 in the R2M - R3M price bracket (10 at The Plett Manor), and 16 sales in the R3M - R4M price bracket (12 at The Plett Manor). The Plettenberg Manor, a new retirement village, accounted for 28 sales in the suburb.

Whale Rock also maintained its status quo, remaining in second place with 41 sales compared to 75 in 2018, 17 of these were in the R0-R1M price bracket. Seaside Longships moved from 4th into 3rd place with 40 sales compared to 55 the previous year, a decline of 27%, and Bitou Nu moved into 5th place with 27 properties sold in both 2018 and 2019.  

Please note:  In June 2019, the demarcation of suburbs in Plettenberg Bay was changed by Lightstone. The suburb of Plettenberg Bay has been amalgamated into the suburbs of Cutty Sark and Bowtie, which accounts for the increase in sales in these suburbs. To draw a reasonably accurate sales comparison, we have amalgamated the sales for the suburbs of Plettenberg Bay, Bowtie and Cutty Sark for 2018 and 2019.

These three suburbs combined accounted for 52 sales in 2019 compared to 98 in 2018, a decrease of ± 47%.

Property Sales by Price

Two price brackets showed an increase in the volume of sales in 2019; the R5 - 7M bracket increased by ±24% (26 sales in 2019 compared to 21 in 2018) while sales in the R3 - 4M bracket increased by ±21%. (47 compared to 39). The biggest drop was in the R10m - R15M bracket, five sales compared to nine in 2019, while the most significant drop was in the R1M-R2M bracket with a decrease of 36% (121 sales vs 188 in 2018).

Sectional title

Sectional title sales decreased by close to 25% in 2019 with 172 sales compared to 231 the previous year. By comparison, freehold sales accounted for 298 units in 2019 compared to 346 in 2018, a decrease of ±14%.

Top-end sales

Of the 41 properties that sold for more than R5M, 23 (±56%) were in gated estates. No properties that sold for over R15M were in gated estates. There were only two sectional title properties sold for  more than R5M, both in The Sanctuary.

There were five sales above R15M in 2019. Two on Beachy Head (R18M and R24M), one on Swift Sure Road in Lower Central for R23.1 Million, a farm in Keurboomstrand that sold for R23 Million and land in Ebenezer that was purchased by the Bitou Municipality for a housing development project (Almost 39M in two separate sales.)

While we are obviously also under lockdown, we continue working remotely as best we can, please feel free to contact us for any of your property enquiries, especially how to conduct property transactions during these difficult times.

Stay safe and be kind.

Yours in Property

Helen Ward

Principal Helen Melon Properties

www.helenmelonproperties.co.za

Suburbs under review in the 2018/2019 comparison

• Barons view
• Bowtie
• Brackenridge
• Cutty Sark
• Formosa
• Goose Valley
• Harkerville
• Keurboomstrand
• Lower Central
• Lower Robberg
• Plettenberg Bay
• Poortjies
• Piesang Valley
• River Club
• Robberg Ridge
• Schoongezicht
• Seaside Longships
• Signal Hill
• The Crags
• The Hill
• Upper Central
• Upper Robberg
• Whale Rock
• Bitou Nu & Knysna Road
• Wittedrift