Johannesburg - The average price of a property in a residential estate was R2 million, almost three times the national average cost of a property of R700 000, according to Lightstone.
Paul-Roux de Kock, the analytics director at Lightstone, said last week that a breakdown of residential estate property values revealed that 9.9 percent of estate properties were worth more than R3m in value, 29.7 percent were in the range between R1.5m and R3m in value and 25.4 percent within the R1m to R1.5m value range.
This equated to two-thirds of total estate properties being valued at more than R1m each, he said.
De Kock said the majority of the 10 most expensive residential estates in South Africa could be found in Johannesburg.
Villa Santini in Sandhurst in Johannesburg topped the list with a median value for a property within the estate at about R17.4m followed by Silverhurst Estate in Cape Town with a medium value of about R16.25m.
De Kock said Lightstone preferred the median value over the mean average because it eliminated the effect of extreme values that could influence the average value in estates with wide-ranging or disparate values.
He said all of the top 10 most expensive estates were classified as low-density estates with a fewer number of properties and each property holding an incredibly high value.
De Kock said properties in residential estates accounted for 5.1 percent of the total volume of 6.2 million residential properties in South Africa, but accounted for about 15.1 percent of the total overall property market value of R4.3 trillion.
“This is a noteworthy figure, especially when considering the increasing market activity for the estate property market over the past few years, which shows strong growth in both the volume and value of estate sales,” De Kock said.
He said Lightstone research of about 6 500 closed communities and estate properties, including coastal, lifestyle, country, wildlife, equestrian and polo and golf estates, revealed that the total rand value locked up in the estate market was close to the total value of all residential properties within the City of Johannesburg.
He said more than 50 percent of estate properties were located in Gauteng, with a further 25 percent in the Western Cape.
De Kock said there was an almost equal split of estate properties that were bonded at 51 percent versus those that were not bonded at 49 percent. But the bonded estate properties accounted for 62.4 percent of the total value of estate properties.
He said it should come as no surprise that estate living was on the rise as more South Africans were seeking properties that offered a heightened level of security and provided better investment opportunities for them.
However, De Kock said these were not the only factors adding to the appeal of estate property buying.
“The fact that more developers are including lifestyle elements into their estates, such as catering for pastimes such as golf and fishing, with some going as far as incorporating hospitals and schools with the estate property, ensured that those looking to purchase a property within an estate received maximum value for their investment.
“Although luxury market buyers are under pressure, the estate housing market in general does not dip as low or peak as high as the rest of the luxury market,” he said.
“We therefore expect it to outperform the luxury market during the current downturn.”
BUSINESS REPORT
The top 10 most expensive residential estates in SA (sourced from Lightstone)
1. Villa Santini, Sandhurst, Sandton: R17.4 million
2. Silverhurst Estate, Cape Town: R16.25m
3. Clouds End, Morningside, Sandton: R15.3m
4. Les Maisons On Fifth, Hyde Park, Sandton: R14.875m
5. Sandals, Voelklip, Hermanus: R13.9m
6. 52 Barkeley Avenue, Bryanston, Johannesburg: R13.85m
7. Steenberg Golf Estate, Cape Town: R13.425m
8. Villa Fiori, Morningside, Sandton: R13.125m
9. Central Park, Houghton Estate, Johannesburg: R13.05m
10. High Constantia, Constantia, Cape Town: R12.85m