Imagine owning the most expensive home in Cape Town and you hear the vacant piece of land in front of you is going on auction.
Would you buy it so no one can obscure your view or do you leave it to fate, and wait to see who will buy it and what they will do with it?
This may have crossed the minds of the owners of SA’s most expensive residential property which sold for R290m a few years back, when the vacant erf directly in front of the house, in the highly sought-after Ocean View Drive in Bantry Bay, came on the market.
Auction house Claremart - who will be auctioning the land in Ocean View Drive, Bantry Bay on 10 December, says the opportunity to call the most expensive home ever sold in SA “my neighbour”, has sparked widespread interest among investors, prospectors and property moguls at large.
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“We are incredibly excited about this 700m² vacant land that offers potential buyers the opportunity to cash in on a blank canvass where the options for developing that dream home, are endless,” said ClareMart’s head of special projects and developments, Rob Stefanutto.
However, the depreciation of the rand, against a backdrop of a massive decline in property prices over the last 12 months, had created an economic climate where foreign investors are driving prices down even further, in looking to secure bargains, particularly in the luxury residential market.
“That being said, homes in this market are still selling between R40m and R100m. Here is an opportunity to build and make a great investment in one of the most sought-after roads in the country, for under R35m, taking into account construction costs at a staggering R35 000 per square meter,” explained Stefanutto.
Although South Africa, like many other countries, is still gripped by a recession, there remains an incredible concentration of wealth in local hands, so this opportunity is in no way only within reach of the international investor. If initial enquiries are anything to go by, the local market is indeed alive to this opportunity, which is hugely encouraging.
“We are seeing the buds of recovery in the market. I am in negotiations with some of South Africa’s largest development companies who are presently acquiring development opportunities from us, that is worth in excess of R150m.
“They are planning to spawn new developments worth billions of rands over the next six months, indicative of rising investor confidence. I have seen this pattern in my 22 years of dealing and structuring deals with developers, where there is significant market recovery after each crisis.
“This was the case in 2001, 2008 and 2014, and it is my belief that we will see the same recovery post-Covid, with strong investment vehicles emerging,” concluded Stefanutto.
Auctions continue to gain traction as a preferred selling platform particularly for speedy sales with no commission payable by the seller and non-suspensive cash offers.
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