Quayside in the Cape Town CBD.

There is a severe shortage of good-quality furnished and unfurnished rental stock in central Cape Town, says Seeff Properties’ CBD rental specialist Jules Arnott.

“Demand has increased tremendously over the past 12 months, and continues to outstrip the supply of available rental properties across the board,” says Arnott.

“This is obviously excellent news for investors, many of whom now want to take advantage of the lower point in the economic cycle to either start a property investment portfolio or add to their existing portfolio. They feel safe in the knowledge that their capital investment will continue to grow healthily, and a steady, predictable further return will be achieved from high occupancy levels,” says Arnott.

“Tenants continue to seek long-term rentals in popular buildings like Quayside, Metropolis, Dockside and The Rockwell in De Waterkant, Harbouredge and Icon on the Foreshore and The Decks in Long Street. One-bedroom apartments in these premium buildings are typically being let for R6 000 – R6 500 a month unfurnished and R8 500 – R9 000 furnished. Two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartments could fetch anything from R9 000 to R12 000 a month unfurnished and from R12 000 – R20 000 furnished. This is an increase of up to 10% on the same period a year ago. Seeff has some excellent, qualified tenants ready to occupy apartments like this.”

With such a healthy rental demand, investors can be assured of minimising the risk of the placement of more troublesome tenants as the selection includes many very well qualified and economically stable tenants. Arnott says Seeff runs credit and reference checks on all applicants and will present only the best candidates, thereby significantly minimising the risk of unpleasant issues such as non-payment or late payment of rent. In an environment where the published overall collection rates are dismal, investors need the assurance of a safe investment and a good monetary return on their investment, says Arnott.