What young, first-time home buyers want

Young first-time home buyers are looking to purchase apartments and townhouses that are ‘move-in’ ready and modern, open-plan homes that may require only basic cosmetic work, says recently-appointed CEO of Eazi Real Estate, Brynn Janeke.

“With many of these buyers starting out by acquiring homes in the sub-R2.5 million price band, here in the Cape Metro we find high demand areas where well-priced properties sell quickly include parts of Plumstead, Diep River, Ottery, Southfield, Heathfield, Belhar, Eersterivier, Hagley, Blue Downs, Brackenfell, Kuils River, Parow, Goodwood, Surrey Estate, Thornton, Townsend, Churchill Estate, Glenlilly, Edgemead, Bothasig, Lentegeur, Grassy Park, Portlands, Parklands North, Table View, Sunningdale and Blouberg, to name a few,” says Janeke.

“Against the background of a residential property market that is still a buyer’s market, most purchasers are still looking for good deals. The low interest rates have certainly increased the buyer pool, but there remains a strong demand for well-priced homes. While some areas in Cape Town are experiencing more downward pressure on price, our experience is that homes below R1.5 million in the South-Eastern Suburbs are moving quickly, and similarly, properties below R2.5 million in some areas in the Northern, Southern and Western Seaboard Suburbs are sought after with well-priced homes selling rapidly.

“Encouragingly, the continued high demand from buyers in general is reflected in sustained positive movement in the market and, apart from the higher demand for homes in specific areas, we are also aware of a few different groups of home buyers most active at present.

“Firstly, as mentioned, there are young buyers who can now qualify for bonds with low interest rates and who want to acquire their own homes rather than rent. Then there are others who are also taking advantage of the low interest rates in order to move to more affluent suburbs which are closer to work and have better schools, for example, South Eastern Suburb homeowners from areas such as Mitchells Plain relocating to Southern Suburbs areas like Plumstead, Ottery and Diep River, and upgrading from area to area in Northern Suburbs.”

Janeke says another group of buyers are looking for larger homes or two-bedroom apartments to allow more space to work from home, while another segment comprises larger family groups who are buying properties of a larger erf size which allow for multi-dwelling properties such as a granny flat or apartment for adult children or an elderly parent.

“The market is definitely competitive for well-priced properties, and we are achieving full asking prices and even seeing competing buyers pushing up prices in some instances, such as a Lotus River home which sold for the full asking price of R1.9 million in one day, a Rocklands home with an asking price of R795 000 which sold in three days for R802 950, and other properties in Bloubergrise, Protea Village and Kuils River which sold in just a few days for full asking prices of R1.75 million, R1.42 million and R1.95 million respectively.”

Janeke, who has been involved in the property industry for more than 20 years, including development, sales and marketing, with several years as GM of the marketing division of Group 5 Properties, and a stint at Pam Golding Properties as director for Gauteng developments, takes over the helm from Richard Day, who has stepped down from his role at Eazi Real Estate after setting the business on a solid foundation, in order to devote full energy to his ongoing role as Group General Manager and Executive Director at Pam Golding Properties.

Says Janeke, who will lead Eazi Real Estate in the next phase of growth: “We have proven that our fixed-fee model not only works well, but also that our offering is highly relevant in the market, which is demonstrated in our growth and very positive client reviews. Having recently grown our agent force to 25, we are now focusing on increasing our market share across the entire Cape Town metropolitan area and Paarl, Stellenbosch and Wellington in the Cape Winelands and in addition, looking at launching in other metropolitan markets in the months ahead.

“In 2021 to date we have doubled our monthly average unit sales while our turnover has increased threefold since 2018. Our median time to sell is just 21.5 days, while our average price realisation in 2021 is 96.6% of the listing price, which represents on average only a 3.3% discount compared to the industry’s 9% below asking price.”

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