Live the High Life, in the Lowveld
While foreign investors might not be buying residential properties in South Africa as much, there is still a demand from African investors in South African properties, and for very good reason. So what drives that investment, where are they investing and where are these investors from?
Statistics show that foreign investors buying property in South Africa accounts for around three percent of the market nationally, and there’s a variety of reasons for that. Many of these buyers are business executives, including entrepreneurs who travel to South Africa often.
The prices of these properties range anywhere from R800 000 to R5 million, with a few of them as high as R10 million. Buyers are generally from Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Nigeria, Botswana, Kenya, Angola, Moçambique, Angola, DRC, Ghana and Gabon, among others.
These properties are often bought to establish bases from where to expand operations, not only in South Africa, but also the greater southern Africa. According to Dr Andrew Golding, chief executive of the Pam Golding Property group “Others with children attending schools and universities here look to buy a home where they can reside when visiting during vacation periods or purchase a well-positioned apartment as student accommodation for their adult children, coupling as a sound investment.
“Some investors look to own a getaway holiday home in a highly desirable location, such as Cape Town’s Atlantic Seaboard, Southern Suburbs and the Blouberg area; the Cape’s Boland and Overberg regions, namely Stellenbosch and Somerset West or Hermanus, Kleinmond and Onrus; or the scenic Garden Route, for use by their immediate family for short or extended time frames during the year.”
Mozambican buyers however tend to buy local property a bit closer to home, making property for sale in Malelane, Nelspruit and Komatipoort particularly popular. This is as a result of cross-border trade between the two countries and of course the amazing lifestyle the Lowveld affords residents.
