Cape Town excellent Investment Destination - 22nd Nov 2008

The Trafalgar City Report 2008, now in its seventh edition, has confirmed that Maitland is among the country's leading residential areas with average property prices escalating 417% in the past two years. In the Cape Town city centre, prices have grown 37% annually amid a strong demand for three bedroom properties and a decline in bachelor and one and two-bedroom homes.
Franschhoek has benefited from a 50% increase in average prices and more than three-quarters of the properties available on the market were transferred to new owners within the prior two-year period.
Some areas show a sales growth in three-bedroom houses and a corresponding drop in smaller home purchases, whereas other areas show an increase in smaller home purchases as entry-level homeowners seek cheaper options in bachelor flats and one-bedroom homes.
Stellenbosch also experienced a drop in sales activities across the board.
"Virtually all projects are progressing well and there is overall optimism in the Cape Town city centre, which remains the major economic node in the Cape Town metropolitan area, both in terms of gross geographic product and jobs," the report says.
Nationally 186 000 houses had either been completed or were under construction by the third quarter of the 2007/2008 financial year with 23 438 of these situated within the Western Cape. An Affordable Housing Conference held last year noted South African metropolitan areas demand 55 000 new houses annually against the current 6 700 being built.
Yet, particularly among developed nations, the private sector has been expected to contribute towards boosting the social housing stock. Black households dominate the South African rental market, followed by the coloured population and annually 105 670 new units are demanded.