Simbithi Eco-Estate Review (The Bugle)

Our current theme focuses on the local powerhouses for property transactions and we consider Simbithi Eco-Estate this week and the level of sales activity experienced recently. Simbithi is going through the same life-cycle phases that Zimbali has already been through, which helps us to understand where the market may be heading within the next 12-24 months. Simbithi has had an incredible run in vacant land sales over the past few years. Considering our methodology of only recognizing sales that have been transferred and registered in the deeds office, the data indicates that in 2010 there were 221 transfers of Simbithi properties with a total value of R288,4m. Of these 65 (R145m) were sectional title transactions and 156 (R143,4m) were freehold (i.e. mostly vacant land). In 2011 there were 225 transfers registered with a value of R294m, of which 57 (R118,3m) were sectional title transactions and 168 (R175,7m) were freehold. For the 2012 year to date, 102 transactions have been registered with a total value of R141,6m, of which 32 (R65,1m) were sectional title properties and 70 (R76,5m) freehold properties. 

The vacant land has been selling so well that the availability has shrunk considerably and the pricing has been edged up. The current status on first time vacant land options from the master developer is that on the Eco-Estate side 16 sites are available which are priced from R820,000 to R1,400,000. The stock has been supplemented from a large development site, which has been cut up into smaller single residential opportunities. Had this not been done the stock of vacant land on the Eco-Estate side would have been far less. On the Golf Estate side, only 37 sites are still offered for sale by the master developer and these are priced from R920,000 to R1,460,000. There is however a pool of re-sale options available and these are often prime sites with good pricing, and must not be overlooked when shopping for vacant land. Simbithi is a relatively young estate with 74.38% of existing owners having owned the property for less than 5 years. The fact that 69.72% of recent sellers have owned the property for less than 5 years, indicates a reasonable level of speculative buying and selling within Simbithi. Looking at the age analysis of recent Simbithi buyers and sellers the data indicates 20.63% of recent buyers are aged between 18-35 whereas recent sellers within the same age category measured only 9.64%. There is somewhat of a shift to younger buyers. Whether you are a first time buyer, a holiday-home buyer or a retiree, Simbithi has something for everybody.