Despite a gloomy picture of Bloemfontein existing in the rest of the country due to neglect and a lack of maintenance, a recent survey has revealed the judicial capital is becoming a popular option for aspirant homeowners.
The real estate investment company Lightstone Property has revealed affordable properties to be the main attraction in this ANC-run city, headquarters of the Mangaung Metro Municipality (MMM).
Carl Coetzee, chief executive officer (CEO) of BetterBond, said data showed that the Free State had the highest ratio of affordable properties.
Furthermore, according to the crowd-sourced database of comparative living costs Livingcost.org, the average cost of living for one person in Bloemfontein, including rent, is $644 (R12 274).
“This ranks it among the top 23% of least expensive cities in the world,” said Coetzee.
“The favourable cost of living and accessible property prices have seen a boom in property sales in the past two years, with sectional title properties performing particularly well.”
He said, in addition, Property24 data showed that sectional title sale volumes have gradually increased above 2 600 annually since 2021.
“This increased demand has pushed up the average sectional title sale prices from R750 000 in 2020, to R950 000 currently,” he added.
“Yet, compared with other regions, these prices are still competitive and appealing to particularly first-time buyers,” said Coetzee.
He said in Cape Town the average sales price of a sectional title unit was R1,7 million.
Coetzee said Property24 reported that almost 35,7% of buyers in the past year were between the ages of 18 and 35 years.
“Many of these buyers would benefit from the government’s R1,1 million transfer duty threshold.
“Furthermore, buyers of properties in the many new developments coming into the market in Bloemfontein would also be exempt from paying transfer duties,” he said.
Coetzee said students who move to the province to study at the University of the Free State (UFS) often buy their first properties in the area.
“We are also seeing a growing interest in buy-to-let investment to meet the increased demand for student accommodation.”
According to the crowd-sourced database of comparative living costs, Livingcost.org, the average cost of living for one person in Bloemfontein, including rent, is $644 (R12 274)
