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Property Talk

Property Talk

Author: Andreas Wassenaar
Date: 2016-09-02
New World Wealth is a global wealth intelligence and market research company and recently published their report on the top ten estates in South Africa. I am often suspicious of these types of ratings as the criteria by which decisions are made are not always transparent. However in researching New World Wealth, the detailed criteria by which the ratings were established provided insight into the critical success factors of what make for an outstanding residential estate. The 8 ratings criteria provided by New World Wealth in their report include:


1) Security - access control and the private security personnel. Always at the top of the list of decision making criteria, a residential estate lives and dies by the actual or perceived security provided to its residents;

2) Activities - gym, swimming pools, golf, horse riding, polo, tennis;

3) Facilities - shops, offices, parks, gathering places, children's playgrounds, schools, hospitals;

4) Quality and design of houses;

5) Space - average stand size and spacing of houses;

6) Views, scenery and wildlife;

7) Appeal to wealthy buyers; and

8) Resale and price growth potential. This is an impressive list and it would be hard to argue that these eight key criteria do not define remarkable estates.

No doubt there are some estates that did not feature such as Steenberg Golf Estate in Cape Town, Erinvale in Somerset West, and Simbithi Eco-Estate here in Ballito that many would regard as ranking very high against the published criteria. The top five spots in order according to New World Wealth were Val de Vie in Paarl in the Cape Winelands, Zimbali Coastal Resort which is our flagship estate along the Dolphin Coast, Fancourt in George on the Garden Route , Steyn City - a relatively new 900 ha estate between Fourways and Lanseria in Johannesburg; and Pezula in Knysna on the Garden Route, not far from Fancourt. Financial Mail's Investors Monthly magazine reported that Steyn City made media headlines two years ago when it was revealed that Douw Steyn, the billionaire founder of Auto & General, built a lavish Tuscan mansion on the estate at a cost of R250m - believed to be the most expensive home ever completed in SA. It will be fascinating to see how Steyn City develops over the next few years as it has already succeeded in attracting more than R1,5bn in property sales in a relatively short period since its launch in March last year. The other sought-after estates on New World Wealth's top 10 rating were Whale Rock Ridge in Plettenberg Bay; De Zalze in Stellenbosch; Atlantic Beach between Blouberg and Melkbosstrand in Cape Town; Highland Gate near Dullstroom; and Arabella on the Bot River Lagoon in Kleinmond near Hermanus.

For further information and an interactive analysis of this article follow my blog: andreaswassenaar.blogspot.com.

Andreas Wassenaar

Principal - Seeff Dolphin Coast

Cell: 082 837 9094

andreasw@seeff.com