SOUTH AFRICAN REAL ESTATE IS CHEAP
THE HIBISCUS COAST IS A BARGAIN!
Where in the world can one buy a beach front home or an attractive country estate for around £200,000? Well, South Africa and more specifically, the Natal South Coast, is the current hot spot! With the South African Rand fluctuating at around Rand 11 to 1 GBP and Rand 7.25 to 1 US$ the prices of good quality beach front and country properties, calculated in foreign currency, remain exceedingly attractive! Equally attractive is the fact that local commentators expect property to rise by as much as 15% per annum going forward. Here, on the Hibiscus Coast, in one of most beautiful and stable regions of Southern Africa, a quality home with a panoramic sea view can be purchased for around £100,000 while an investment of £300,000 or a little more, will buy a superb beach front villa or a very nice little country estate!
A few examples of recent property sales……
A stylish, well maintained and very spacious three bedroom home on 3000 sq.m with 'English' Pub, huge pool, double garage, staff quarters, office and walled security in an up-market area. £95,000
A 15 hectare Gentlemen's estate with an enormous Cape Dutch style manor house, pool, shady verandahs with distant sea views, private chapel, good outbuildings and irrigated lands with small bass dam. £325,000
An ultra-modern, architect designed, double storey, five bedroom home with matching two bedroom cottage on 2,000 sq-m of landscaped tropical garden with direct access to a safe bathing beach and within easy reach of a busy seaside town. £400.000
The range and variety of properties for sale is extremely wide and given the price of such properties calculated in Pounds, Dollars or Euros, no one should be surprised that sales to overseas buyers, have been brisk. What could be better than spending at least part of the bitter European winter in the warmth and relaxed atmosphere of a Natal South Coast summer? Our winters are great too (bright and sunny with no rain) and it's cheaper, and a lot more fun, than staying at home!
Communications are pretty good too. Laid back though it may be, living on Natal's South Coast doesn't mean cutting oneself off from the rest of the world. Port Edward, the southernmost town on the Hibiscus Coast, is seven hours away by car, (less than 90 minutes flying time from Margate Airport), from the commercial hub of Johannesburg and an easy 90 minutes drive from the cosmopolitan city of Durban with it's excellent hotels, shops and restaurants, bustling port and international airport. Language is no problem either; English is universally spoken and state of the art information technology brings the world to our doorstep.
But why invest in South Africa's Hibiscus Coast now? The property boom which drove up the prices of beachfront properties throughout the Cape and along the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast during 2002 to 2004 came late to the Natal South Coast which still remains a relatively under-developed area of great natural beauty. The boom has run it's course but property prices in Southern Natal remain fairly affordable. Surprising really, since the uncrowded Blue Flag beaches and warm waters of the Hibiscus Coast are renowned for their excellent safe bathing, great dive sites and challenging sport fishing - and we still haven't mentioned the stunning golf courses, lush semi-tropical vegetation, picturesque mountains, historic battlefields, colourful Zulu culture and the world famous game parks!
But even on our easy-going South Coast the winds of change are blowing. Rising prices have brought development in their wake. What was once a sleepy coastal strip now has many more desirable amenities, like shopping malls, restaurants with an International flavour and comprehensively equipped private hospitals. Life has unquestionably become fuller and more interesting.
The choice of available properties has broadened to include many more up-market homes and apartments. Whether you intend to settle in South Africa permanently (and many early retirees do) or seek to buy into a plush sea front condominium designed for the perfect lock up and go lifestyle, we can help! When you own a home on KwaZulu-Natal's Hibiscus Coast you really can leave the rat race behind. But beware, you may never wish to rejoin it!
SEE OUR PROPERTY PORTFOLIO
© denton-miller estates 2001
