Seaward Estates Review (The Bugle)

Seaward Estates, an 81,3 ha gated community located on our Seeff office doorstep, in the heart of Ballito, has long been a high demand residential address – and for good reason. It provides excellent value in the R1,5m to R3m price bracket and is located within walking distance of many of Ballito’s main amenities – the Alberlito Hospital, Ashton International College and the three main Ballito shopping centres. The total stock of tradable properties, within Seaward consists of 126 sectional title units (18,72%) and 547 freehold properties (81,28%) including vacant land. Of these 673 properties we see a consistent turnover of 10% per annum. This is spot on in terms of our general rule of thumb, which we use when estimating the number of sales that can be expected to take place every year in a given market. 

An analysis of the age profile of recent buyers and sellers within Seaward (over the past 12 months), demonstrates a demographic shift towards younger property owners. In the 18 to 35 year old category, recent buyers represented as much as 32,81% while recent sellers represented 15,69% within the same age group. The 37 to 49 year old age group was represented by 32,81% of buyers and 37,25% of sellers. The 50 to 64 year old age group was represented by 26,56% of recent buyers and 27,45% of recent sellers. The over 65 year old age group was represented by 7,81% of recent buyers and 19,61% of recent sellers. While the middle two age groups described above remain relatively equally matched between buyers and sellers, the younger age group is starting to replace the older age group. This means more single first time homebuyers and more young families for Seaward.

To provide some insight into the state of the Seaward property market I considered a sample of 173 registered transfers between 1^st January 2011 and 30^th June 2013, representing a gross sales value of R240,5m. Of these 27 are sectional title units (R38,5m) and 146 are freehold properties (R202m). As Seaward is dominated by freehold properties we would expect the bulk of the trade to be in freehold homes. It is interesting to note the trade per calendar year. In 2011 there were 73 registered transactions, according to our deeds office search, with a total value of R97,3m and an average value of R1,332,313. For 2012, 72 registered transactions were recorded with a total value of R98,3m and an average price of R1,365,476. For 2013 to date and in terms of the data provided, we have seen 28 transactions to the value of R44,9m with an average price of R1,603,750. This jump in average price is interesting and could indicate a recovery of pricing for Seaward homes. The highest sale within our sample was the R3m paid for 1 Shani Close, a well-located freehold home situated on a 1,391 sqm site overlooking a green-belt.

(Author: Andreas Wassenaar, published in The Bugle, 31 June 2013)