10-11 / 37
May 2016
News
M
itchells Plain is located on
the False Bay coast, bound
by the R300 and M7 motor-
ways and lies between Muizenberg
and Khayelitsha. It stretches all the
way to the coast and includes a
beautiful coastline where fishermen
can often be seen casting their lines.
There is also a developed area for
beachgoers with a playground for
children and a swimming pool.
According to Grobbelaar, the
popular coastal areas of Muizenberg,
KalkBay, FishHoek andSimon’s Town
are also close by andMitchells Plain is
very much the heartbeat of the area.
Affectionately known as the ‘flats’
or Cape Flats, it is home to approxi-
mately 700 000 residents and has a
sizeable property market of about 88
000 predominantly freehold homes.
It comprises of a number of sub-
areas such as Westridge, Portland,
Tafelsig, Eastridge, Beacon Valley,
Lentegeur, Woodlands, Weltevreden
Valley, Colorado Park, Mandalay
and Watergate Phase 2. The western
half is home to a wealthier
population.
“The total property mar-
ket transactions for the last
year stands at around 2 322
sales, to the combined value
of just over R648 million. This
translates to an average sales price
of around R279 096. In reality though,
prices vary drastically across the area,
fromvery affordable tomiddle-class,”
says Grobbelaar.
He says that in most areas, the
average prices have strengthened
very nicely over the last 10 years,
especially in the five years since
2010. Grobbelaar expects that growth
will now stall in view of the poor
economic outlook for this year. The
area has nonetheless delivered excel-
lent growth over the last few years
and this certainly bodes well going
forward.
Where the average price of a house
at the lower end of the market was
R85 000 in 2005, it will now cost
R230 000 in 2016. At the top end of
the scale, the average price is up
from R254 000 to R680 000, which
also translates to about 270%growth
over ten years and about 150% up
since 2010.
Although the area is faced with
significant socio-economic there
is a strong community spirit and
people are reluctant to move out of
the area unless they are looking to
upgrade. Even then, it tends to be to
the more upmarket suburbs of the
False Bay coast. Mitchells Plain a nice
stepping-stone area for lower income
first time buyers with three bed-
room units ranging from R300 000 to
R400 000 and more estab-
lished larger houses around
the R600 000 to R800 000
mark. Many famous South
Africans have called the
area home at some point
over the years. These in-
clude Lynne Brown, Minister of Pub-
lic Enterprises, comedienne, Kurt
Schoonraad, South Africa’s first chess
grandmaster, Kenny Solomon, Bran-
don October, Idols 2002 runner-up,
the rapper ‘AKA’, the artist Dion Cupi-
do and jazzmusician, Benjamin Jeph-
ta. 20SK8, South Africa’s best known
skate collective has its roots in the
Cape Flats.
■
‘The average price of a house at the
lower end of the market was R85 000 in
2005, it will now cost R230 000 in 2016.’
Mitchells Plain property market
In line with the performance of the propertymarket over the past two
years, in particular that of the former ‘township’ andmore affordable
areas, prices in Mitchells Plain are on the up, says Gary Grobbelaar
of Seeff.