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Jan 16, 2008:
Vacant land in the Eastern Cape town of Jeffreys Bay is selling for a premium with buyers paying up to R400 000 for a 700m2 plot
The town is emerging from a slowdown in activity caused by a series of interest rate hikes and the implementation of the National Credit Act this year.
According to Griezel of Realty 1, renewed zest in its real estate sector is characterised by a resurgence of developers who are knocking on doors in their quest to find land suitable for development - and paying the prices being asked in many instances. Demand is also visibly rising from investors, particularly those from the emergent market, who see real opportunities for capital growth on the back of the towns’ continued expansion.
Its thriving commercial and retail hub has established J-Bay as a main centre for that part of the Garden Route, servicing not just its 20 000 permanent residents but those from neighbouring towns and villages such as Hankey, Patensie, Kareedouw and Joubertina in addition to up to 120 000 holiday makers a year, he continues.
New development is now a constant presence, from Aston Bay in the south to Marina Martinique and Paradise Beach across the Seekoei River,” he says. Prominent among the wave of new projects in the area is a 40 000m2 regional shopping mall to be built on the Fountains Estate, a 600 hectare mixed-use commercial and residential development that will on completion be amongst the biggest in the country.
It is also moving strongly out to Tsitsikamma, where has just sold a site for R5,9 million to a black economic empowerment development company. Zoned for both Residential 2 and Resort 5 development, the 5,3 hectare site sits 60km out of Jeffreys Bay near the N2 to Plettenberg Bay, Knysna and George. This makes it ideal for development into an overnight stopover and holiday resort on the actual Garden Route– which the developer is hoping to launch in the New Year - says Griezel. In addition to five fully serviced, elevated plots of 1000m2, each with sea and forest views, there is also an existing 500m2 building which lends itself to conversion into a guest house or motel. There is also scope to build another eight units.
Says Griezel: “This type of development, which comes on the back of an announcement by the Cacadu District Municipality of a R900 million coastal development opportunity near Jeffreys Bay last month, shows that J-Bay has become one of the country’s most vibrant coastal residential, tourist and investment destinations.”