Record harvests and their positive effect on local businesses have led to an influx of house hunters into the Breede River Valley. <\/p>\n
The best crop harvests in six years in 2016 \u2013 and the tremendous boost this has given the area\u2019s agricultural businesses \u2013 has prompted young people to stream into the Valley in search of both employment and homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact,\u201d says Charles de Kock, owner of the Chas Everitt International franchises in Swellendam and Worcester, \u201cthey are currently snapping up just about every available piece of property along Route 62 from Tulbagh to Swellendam. Of the properties we\u2019ve sold in the last year, two-thirds have been to young families permanently relocating to the area for work purposes.\u201d <\/p>\n
And the arrival of a slew of new residents has also caused property values to climb steadily, he says. \u201cFor example, in Swellendam and Barrydale, where a 100m\u00b2 three-bedroom home now costs around R1,4m, house prices have seen a healthy 10% increase since last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has also been an enormous interest in commercial farms and the price of land has more than doubled in the past two years, from around R30 000\/ha to an average of R70 000\/ha.\u201d<\/p>\n
De Kock says Worcester, the biggest town in the Breede River Valley, currently presents potentially lucrative \u2013 and still largely untapped \u2013 property investment prospects. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile Robertson, located in the heart of an officially recognised Wine of Origin region (and the Cape\u2019s largest irrigated wine-producing region), has seen house price growth of nearly 7% this year, according to resident real estate agent Mardi Botha.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re selling an average of six houses a month to both young professionals who are starting local businesses and older people from Cape Town and Johannesburg wanting a taste of country life. Small \u2018lifestyle\u2019 farms are very popular as either weekend retreats or to set up as guesthouses and they sell for between R3 and R5 million.\u201d <\/p>\n
About 20km to the south, in the foothills of the Riviersonderend Mountains, McGregor is attracting equal attention. \u201cWhen I arrived here seven years ago a small two-bedroom cottage would have sold for around R700 000. Today, these properties are going for R1,3m to R1,4m,\u201d says Shaun King, estate agent in the village. <\/p>\n
There has also been a distinct change in buyer profile, he notes. \u201cTwo years ago half our buyers were Capetonian retirees and the other half were foreigners. Now, they\u2019re all South Africans and mostly professionals who live here permanently, and who either work remotely or own guesthouses where they get up to R1 500 per person for a night\u2019s stay.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to King, a serious shortage of stock is pushing prices up even further. \u201cThe village is bordered by a nature reserve so cannot expand at all which, of course, escalates prices. Right now it\u2019s definitely a seller\u2019s market, and buyers are prepared to overpay. Anything under R2 million in a good part of town will sell within a week.\u201d <\/p>\n
Demand similarly exceeds supply in Montagu which, like McGregor, falls within the Langeberg Municipality. \u201cOur stock has been significantly depleted in the last 24 months due to the town\u2019s popularity. Property values have increased as much as 30%, with the average house now selling for R1,45 million,\u201d says Nelda Wiese, an estate agent in Montagu. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we do have a small percentage of \u2018swallows\u2019, Montagu is increasingly attracting young families and our buyers include entrepreneurs and those in the hospitality industry who are taking advantage of the upsurge in tourism that the town has experienced in the past few years.\u201d Wiese notes that this appeal will only intensify when the major improvements that are currently being made to the pass through Cogmanskloof \u2013 Montagu\u2019s access road through the Langeberg \u2013 are completed.<\/p>\n
At R950 000, the average house price is substantially lower in nearby Bonnievale, but that is destined to change, Wiese predicts.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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