An American buyer recently purchased a palatial R69 million Constantia home, which he has since demolished in order to construct a mansion that is more to his taste.
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The Sunday Times reports that the demolition job has startled local property stakeholders, who said that the new owner had in essence paid nearly R70 million just for the site in Spilhaus Avenue.
A notice on the front wall draws public attention to the ‘Proposed Demolition of Existing Residential Use Building’.
Last week, Cape Town property stakeholders told the Sunday Times that the demolition was a vote of confidence in the booming top-end local property market, with foreign buyers making up roughly half of all inquiries, according to Dogon Group MD Alexa Horne.
‘There are so many foreigners buying in the luxury upper end — I have seen that personally in Bishopscourt and Upper Constantia,’ she said, adding that the Reserve Bank statistics confirmed significant revenue inflows through the purchase of high-end properties.
‘If we look at parity with the rest of the world, it is still cheap to buy property in South Africa,’ Horne said.
Shelly Keys, an area manager for Pam Golding Properties in the Western Cape, told the publication that there was a trend towards older homes being demolished ‘to make way for modern homes and cluster developments’.
‘This is creating a whole new market/proposition offering homes and feeding the semigration demand for secure estates,’ she said. ‘There is a move towards contemporary homes of which there is short supply in Upper Constantia. A large portion of the older homes that are bought are extensively renovated by the purchasers.’
However, not everybody is excited about the latest demolition, with residents within earshot of the property complaining about the noise from the construction site.
Andrew Golding, CE of the Pam Golding Property Group, said COVID had accelerated some dream home projects.
‘One of the most noticeable trends in the residential property market over the past two years has been a discernible uptick in demand for luxury homes, defined as properties in the R10m-R100m range and beyond — a sector where freehold properties, in particular, have enjoyed an increase in demand.’
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