Full speed ahead for Cape luxury rentals
Category Luxury Rental News
After a dip following Cape Town's widely publicised water problems four years ago, the pace of semigration to the Western Cape from SA's other provinces has picked up speed again in the past year and is boosting both demand and rentals in the city's most sought-after areas.
"We are seeing huge rental demand among affluent South Africans who are relocating from Gauteng and KZN in particular, as well as foreign corporates who are posting executives here on three or five-year contracts," says Tarryn Retief, sales manager for Chas Everitt Southern Suburbs.
"Most of the SA semigrants are planning to buy but would prefer to check out the local market for at least a year first, and they are snapping up high-end rental homes right across the Southern Suburbs, from Constantia and Bishopscourt to Bergvliet, Meadowridge, and Tokai, and in luxury estates such as Stonehurst.
"And while rentals all around the country have shown little or no growth for the past two years, we have definitely been operating in our own 'zone', where no-one even blinks at the 8% annual increase which is our current average."
Monthly rentals for luxury properties in the Southern Suburbs start at R15 000 to R35 000 a month in Bergvliet, Meadowridge and Constantia Lower, but homes to rent in these areas are currently in extremely short supply, attracting dozens of potential tenants if they do become available.
Rentals in Constantia Upper and Bishopscourt start higher, at around R40 000 a month, and can range all the way up to R250 000 or even R300 000 a month for really exceptional properties, she says, but even here there is no shortage of demand - mostly from local and foreign companies who are opening new operations in the Western Cape and seeking secure luxury accommodation for their top executives.
Meanwhile, demand is equally strong in the even more rarified atmosphere of the SA's leading luxury residential enclave, the Val de Vie Lifestyle Estate and neighbouring Pearl Valley Golf Estate near Paarl.
Here, says Amanda Colombo, co-franchisee of Chas Everitt Luxury Winelands Estates, monthly rentals range from around R35 000 to R65 000 for a four-bedroom home, and due to an extreme shortage of supply are easily achieving increases of up to 12% a year.
"Most of our current tenants are also from Gauteng and KZN at this time, but we are also seeing an increase in demand from affluent Capetonians keen to relocate out of the city - and to experience life here before they make a final purchase decision."
However, not everyone wants to leave the city. Along the Atlantic Seaboard, the glittering stretch of coastline renowned for both spectacular homes and breathtaking views, agents are reporting a significant increase in demand now for rental homes in the plus-R20 000 a month bracket.
Chas Everitt Atlantic Seaboard director Jan-Otto Van Eck says this rental market was depressed in 2020 and early 2021 by the sharp decline in tourism to the Cape and the release of many Airbnb units on to the long-term rental market.
"But with tourism in recovery now - and the steady return of foreign tourists in particular this summer - many of those properties are being let on Airbnb again and there is a growing shortage of homes available for longer periods. Rentals (which range up to around R80 000 a month) are stabilising too as the available stock is absorbed, and we expect this trend to be boosted by rising interest rates, which always prompt an increase in rental demand among those seeking the type of lifestyle available on the Atlantic Seaboard without the cost of ownership."
Author: Chas Everitt
