This three bedroom home at Langebaan Country Estate is for sale through Rawson Properties’ Langebaan franchise at R1,36 million.
The Cape West Coast will be one of the prime residential growth districts over the next decade in South Africa, says Tony Clarke, MD of Rawson Properties.
Clarke says: “What we saw here in the boom years of 2006/2007 is, I believe, just a prelude to what is coming. This is the holiday area which will develop fastest in the entire Western Cape.”
The new Rawson Properties team at Langebaan consists of Julian Day and Emil Weiss formerly of Century 21 At Home, and a former passenger ship captain who, after 36 years at sea, has decided to move into the property world.
Kevin Moran’s experience includes 16 years with Safmarine and 17 years in command of passenger vessels plying the waters between the western coast of England and Ireland. He also captained ships on voyages to Bermuda and the Mediterranean in 2003 and 2005.
Within three weeks of being established the trio had listed some 600 properties for sale. They also secured the sole mandate for two developments and now employ six agents in all, with expectations of increasing this figure by a further three or four.
All three Langebaan partners agree that Clarke’s optimistic views on the potential of the Cape West Coast are justified. They says Langebaan was one of the last areas to feel the recession and is now proving to be one of the first to climb out of it.
“For almost four months now sales have slowly improved,” says Weiss. “We think this will continue – with ‘normal’ pre-recession trading conditions and turnover being achieved by the end of 2010.”
Day says Langebaan has always had a high percentage of absentee owners, but this pattern is slowly changing. He believes that by the end of 2010 more than 50% of those living there will be permanent residents.
“We have properties for sale ranging from a two bedroom apartment at R750 000 to a home priced at over R16 million,” says Day.
The average price for homes in Langebaan, however, says Moran, remains somewhere between R1,3 million and R1,6 million, making this area still relatively affordable for those who want to buy holiday homes or scale down from slightly more expensive homes in Greater Cape Town, Johannesburg and other areas.
Day says this section of the coast is now listed as one of the two or three prime areas in South Africa for water sports: kite surfing, sailing, water-skiing, kayaking, fishing and diving. Boat charter companies are flourishing and there are now 58 bed and breakfasts, guesthouses and hotels in Langebaan alone.
“The big attraction,” says Weiss, “is not just the sea village atmosphere but also the relatively low crime figures. In addition, the straight, smooth, uncongested highway from Cape Town to Langebaan – with a slow speed shortcut through the West Coast National Park – is popular with people who are tired of the traffic congestion and tardiness of the routes to Hermanus and beyond.”
The franchise is marketing two new developments. These are Sunset Heights near Club Mykonos, where a sectional title flat in the traditional West Coast style can be bought from R780 000 to R1 350 million, and an undisclosed development in the Langebaan area.
Also being marketed by this franchise is the Atlantic Waves development at Laaiplek being developed by MSP, Racec, Burger and Wallis. Prices range from R899 900 to R2,099 million. The project will consist of more than 100 freestanding units designed in a West Coast style with white walls, black roofs, wooden shutters and stable doors in bright traditional colours, bakoond chimneys, gables, voorstoeps with pergolas, terracotta tiled floors and open plan interiors.
Call 022 772 0110 or email langebaan@rawsonproperties.com.
