That’s all for 2019, folks

Writer: Stephen de Stadler Managing Director Fine & Country Hermanus, Arabella and Kleinmond

As the rest of the country takes some time off over the festive season, it is strangely encouraging to spend time in traffic jams, which appear to be worse than last year. This should mean that there are more visitors to the Overberg than there were a year ago, which translates to potentially higher consumer spending and real local economic growth. This will certainly be welcome, because, let’s be honest, this has been a tough year, no matter what industry you are in.

On the residential property front, according to the research group Lightstone, in Hermanus there were 517 freehold property registrations in 2019, compared to 923 in 2018. Sectional schemes registered 89 transactions this year, compared to 120 in 2018. Vacant land registrations total 125 year-to-date compared to 126 in 2018.

Residential property sales are significantly reduced at the current time, when compared to previous periods.

The trend was repeated in Arabella Golf Estate where 14 total registrations in 2019 can be compared to 28 the previous year. Kleinmond on the other hand reflects 192 registrations this year, which is well on par with 2018, where 191 sales were registered.

With results such as these estate agents who have managed to survive over the last 12 to 18 months normally look forward to a feeding frenzy as pent-up buyers demand is satisfied. Will we thus see a return to the times of old in 2020, where properties that remain unsold for more than a month or so are the exception rather than the rule?

Click below to read more. (Pg 24)