Youngsters snap up properties in Parklands,blaauwberg

Cape Town - National property sales data shows buyers are seeking "value" homes, with Parklands in the Western Cape cranking up the most sales for September.

According to latest stats of the South Africa Property Transfer Guide (SAPTG), the highest volume of sales for the month of September in the country was in Parklands where 145 sales cranked up values totaling R77m.

Weltevreden Park, just north west of Johannesburg, experienced the second highest amount of sales in the country, coming in with a total of 53 in September.

The SAPTG refers to those driving the property market in these areas as the "Terracotta Terraces" set.

He decribes these buyers as typically young, techno savvy, with 7 out of 10 of these youngsters owning the homes they live in.

"Their homes are small but have generally been built in the last decade. This is the single, technikon-educated sector who has the highest percentage of employed people with relatively high incomes, despite their age."

Geffen says both Parklands and Weltevreden Park are situated a 20 to 25 minutes from the metropole areas which means that there is still plenty of space for development and new, affordable cluster homes are mushrooming.

In Weltevreden Park, a well-maintained, leafy suburb, properties in the R550 000 range have been snapped up because of their "amazing value", says Sotheby's Lyn Petzer.

"One can typically get a small but comfortable sectional title with garden for this price, which is unheard of in places like Sandton where one will typically pay R1.3m for the same unit," she says.

"Older, free standing homes also offer incredible value. A three bedroomed home on a 1000m² stand will typically sell for around R1m."

Sotheby's Susan van Aswegen says Parklands is a vibrant, developing area which offers great affordability.

"You can buy a three bedroom cluster with a small garden for R600 000. A 57m² for R460 000.

"The most expensive free standing home in Parklands will cost around R1.8m."

Van Aswegen says middle-income buyers can no longer afford prices closer to town.

"If you buy a house for R2m in the City Bowl, bond repayments generally cost around R20 000 a month, whereas a R1.3m house in Parklands will cost you around R13 000 a month, which leaves young buyers with cash to spend on themselves and their property.

"Affordability is going to drive the property market over the next few years."

The Parklands area started being developed in 1998 and since then has grown tremendously.

A Woolworths is opening in Parklands next March after the success of the Woolworths food store at West Coast Village shopping area that opened a year ago in Sunningdale and we have a Medi Clinic and NetCare clinic as well as several good schools