Since the start of 2020, and despite the economic challenges facing the country, the residential property market has been looking considerably brighter in terms of demand for homes in the price range mainly up to R2.5 million and even R3 million, as well as volumes of successfully concluded transactions, says Richard Day, CEO of Eazi Real Estate, the online, fixed-fee property portal.
“The market below R2.5 million is selling well, not only in sought-after areas such as Harfield Village in Cape Town’s Southern Suburbs, but also older stock in other areas that have experienced lower levels of buyer demand.
“What is even more encouraging is that notably, our sales are achieving 96% of asking price, and selling in an average of just 40 days, while some properties have sold for full asking price in only a few days. Accurate valuations and our fixed fee enable sellers to price their homes more realistically according to the current market. The benefit for a seller is that, even if they price slightly lower, they are still saving money due to the often quite material difference between Eazi Real Estate’s low, fixed fee and the higher variable commission fees charged by most traditional real estate agencies.
“Our utilisation of technology has caught on among both buyers and sellers, offering a seamless, predominantly automated online platform that is easy to interact with while still providing personal and professional expertise through our agent force.”
Says Day: “Interest from committed buyers has soared with enquiries up by 168% in January 2020 compared with our monthly average last year (2019) and up by 180% compared to January 2019. In addition, in January this year, offers were up by 60% compared with January 2019.
Currently operating in selected areas of the Cape Town metro and Boland in the Western Cape as well as Pretoria, Eazi reports increased activity in Cape Town’s CBD, Northern Suburbs, Southern Suburbs and South-Eastern Suburbs, the Helderberg area of the Boland, as well as Pretoria.
Adds Day: “At present we are finding that the median age of our buyers is young, at 33 years, 60% being couples. It’s not surprising that younger buyers have taken to the online, fixed fee model of selling and buying. Naturally a significant number in this age category are first-time buyers, while we are also seeing a good number of investors in areas such as Cape Town CBD and Bellville in the Northern Suburbs, due to the strong demand for rental property. Bellville is a good investment location due to the high number of students and hospital staff, while the Mother City’s CBD enjoys ongoing demand from tenants across all ages.”
