Coastal towns in the Western Cape, along with smaller towns along the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal coastline have bucked the national sales volumes and price trend.

Sales volumes, nationally, were down 5% in 2023 compared to 2019, while homeowners paid on average 25% more for their properties in 2023.

2019 v 2023



Above: In 2019, 63% of sales were <R1m compared to 53% in 2023. The changing mix of sales drove the 25% higher sales value, not necessarily an increase in property prices.

In the Western Cape, sales volumes increased by 6% from 2019 to 2023, while the average price difference for transactions was 39% more for the same period. But if you exclude Cape Town, the volume rise is 10% and the average price of transactions is 43% more than in 2019. With or without Cape Town, the Western Cape outperformed the national averages.

Plettenberg Bay was the standout in terms of sales in the Garden Route, where regional sales volumes actually dropped 4% from 2019 to 2023, almost tracking the national average. However, as the graph below shows, average sales prices rose in most of the coastal towns analysed, a feature across the four regions in the province, including the Garden Route.

Sales volumes in the Whale Coast were up 7% (Hermanus, Franskraalstrand and Gansbaai recording strong sales), Milnerton and Hout Bay drove the sales increase of 7% in Cape Town and surrounds, while Langebaan, St Helena Bay and Laaiplek recorded the most transactions in the West Coast, where sales were up 11% for the region.

Average sales prices along the Western Cape coast



When it comes to average sales prices in the Western Cape, however, it is Noordhoek and Scarborough just north of the Cape Point peninsula that have recorded the highest average sales prices in the province.

The biggest percentage increase in average sales prices occurred in Herolds Bay, outside George in the Garden Route, rising from just under R2m in 2019 to well over R4m in 2023.

Average sales prices on the West Coast were highest in Grotto Bay, a private property in West Coast District Municipality just 45 minutes from Cape Town. It was declared a nature reserve in 2002 and forms part of the Cape West Coast Biosphere reserve which was proclaimed by UNESCO in 2000.

Volumes rose by 25% and the average price difference by 17% between 2019 and 2023 in the Eastern Cape, excluding Port Elizabeth and East London, but the numbers tell a different story if the metros are included: volumes fell by 3% and (marginally ahead of the national average of -5%) but the average price difference actually increased to 21%, 4% shy of the national average.

Average sales prices along the Eastern Cape coast



Gonubie and Jeffreys Bay, coincidentally both popular surfing destinations, recorded the biggest increases in volumes in the province. The graph above shows how St Francis Bay and Cape St Francis, situated west of Jeffreys Bay, led the way in terms of average price trends in the province.

Interestingly, the towns from Gqeberha to Oyster Bay, near the provincial border with the Western Cape, recorded higher average sales prices than the towns on the East London coastline, from Port Elizabeth to the KwaZulu-Natal boundary.

In KwaZulu-Natal, performance was flat outside of Margate, Salt Rock and Umhlanga.

Overall, volumes were down 12% with the value up 19%, and if Durban is excluded, the volume fell by just 4% (1% off the national average) and the average price difference was 14%, suggesting that the transaction values were higher in the smaller coastal towns.

The graph below shows how the average sales prices north of Durban are much higher than along the South Coast.

Average sales prices along the KwaZulu-Natal coast