It’s no surprise that the 80% of the residential transfers within the greater Ballito area are for gated estates and in the last 12-months an astonishing R1.7 Billion in transfers were done within the gated estates surrounding Ballito and Salt Rock.”
Like a piece of delicate art, the Ballito area has steadily become something of significant beauty.
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ot only is this seen by potential buyers, looking for a place to call home, but also to developers.
Zimbali Coastal Resort first set the benchmark for estate living, both locally and nationally and really helped put the Ballito region on the map from a high-end residential perspective. This has in turn been the catalyst for possibly the best selection of residential estates, nationally, within a very small geographic radius. Here developers have been exceptionally good at “fine-tuning” their offerings in order to maximise convenience, family facilities and a host of valueadded lifestyle benefits. Simbithi Eco Estate and Dunkirk Estate are both prime examples of how a great, holistic development concept can create an unprecedented residential demand, but also stimulate further retail and commercial activity. For an extended period of time, Simbithi has been one of the fastest selling estates in the country, based on its location, facilities and how well it caters for an entire family. The proof is in the pricing where the average value of land on the estate has increased by 220% since 2005, with some sea-facing plots now worth more than four times what they were initially sold for. Newer developments are now having the ability to learn from existing successes and blend this with their own vision in order to create opportunities that keep evolving in line with adapting market demand. Currently the North Coast is proving to be its own phenomenon with approximately 30 families per month, moving from the greater Durban area to the North Coast. This can be contributed to security as well as the holistic lifestyle that greater Ballito has become renowned for. Proximity to world-class hospitals, shopping malls, the airport, commercial and retails hubs, as well as some wonderful private and government schools are massive draw-cards for the area.
On-average, 20% of the estate buyers are from Gauteng, but we expect this to grow to around 30% within the next 5 years. We are also expecting an additional surge in growth, based on the quality of new gated estates that are coming onto the market. Zululami Luxury Coastal Estate and Elaleni Coastal Forest Estate, both near Sheffield, are examples of new projects that have been meticulously planned and positioned and that have been well-received by the market. When one adds Tongaat Hulett’s vision for their Tinley Manor development, we are sitting with one of the most valuable sections of real estate, in this Country, right on our doorstep. As estates continue to evolve, and differentiate themselves, the main beneficiaries are investors. In all cases estates will launch at preferential prices which would then increase as the development evolves through its life-cycle. In new estates buyers are all buying off-plan (land or sectionaltitle) and having the luxury of securing their purchase price upfront but then seeing the value escalate as every brick or paving block goes into the ground. There are very few scenarios on the North Coast, where people buying into a successful estate early have not seen the value of their property doubling over a period of time, which practically out-performs any other form of investment and really bodes well for those wanting to make the North Coast their home.
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