Three quarters of the properties in popular holiday and retirement destination Plettenberg Bay are valued at more than R3m – with 420 (7%) valued at more than R10m.
Plett, as it is popularly known, is part of the Garden Route on the eastern border of the Western Cape. There are 5 700 properties outside of the townships, at an average value of R4.9m, and almost 40% have been bought within the last five years as Plett’s popularity has increased with remote workers, retirees, holidaymakers and working people from other provinces searching for a more relaxed lifestyle.
Value of properties in Plettenberg Bay
However, the strength of the market above R3m has consequences for those whose earnings restrict home ownership to affordable levels.
Housing for those who work in Plett’s hospitality sector, banks, shops and municipality remains a challenge and as the lead story in this issue - Affordable housing shortage stymies low-income families - shows, there is a dire shortage of formal housing opportunities for those earning less than R26 000 a month.
Plett’s property values have been driven by demand from the leisure and retirement markets, and more recently by professionals who work remotely.
One in three natural persons who own a home in Plett also own one elsewhere in the country, mostly in either Gauteng or the Western Cape, and more than half of those who own a home in Plett are 60 years of age or older.
Current age of owners
Just as Plett has a high proportion of homes valued above R3m, it also has a higher proportion of homes (36%) in Estates and Sectional Schemes (21%) than the national averages of 18% (Estates) and 18.5% (Sectional Schemes) for properties valued at more than R1m. Freehold homes account for 43% of properties in the town.
The average Sectional Scheme values are just under R3m, with the average Freehold values being R6.5m for when inside Estates and R5m outside Estates.
Of the Estates, Whale Rock Ridge has the highest average value at nearly R11.5m (see table below), followed by Brackenridge Nature Estate (R8.2m) and Schoongezicht Country Estate at R5.6m.
Average value of properties within selected Estates
House prices are generally higher in a suburb which has a view of the ocean or is close to it. Houses in Keurbooms Lagoon have the highest average value, although there are relatively few properties.
Lower Central Plett is next in terms of average property value, while Formosa and Robberg Ridge have the lowest property values of the 21 suburbs analysed. Most properties are to be found in Seaside Longships, where the average value is just above R5.3m.
Suburb values in Plettenberg Bay
Do sellers get what they ask for?
The data from 2024 onwards suggests that many Plett sellers enter the market with inflated expectations – and seldom get what they initially ask for. The graph below shows how Plett properties are the least likely in the Garden Route to achieve asking price, behind Mossel Bay, George, Knysna and Sedgefield.
Price achieved as % of original asking price
In fact, according to a poll by Lightstone’s associate company PropData, Estate Agents say in more than 85% of instances they correct a buyer’s pricing expectations either “often” or “almost every time”. On the other hand, Estate Agents say they don’t correct a buyer’s pricing expectations in just 1.2% of interactions.
How often do you have to correct a buyer’s property pricing expectations?
If Plett properties don’t sell within the first three months on the market, the drop off in price paid relative to asking price can be significant, as the graph below shows. The average price paid on transactions concluded within a month was 91% of the asking price, but this dropped to 82% if sales took six to 12 months to conclude. By comparison, George, Jeffreys Bay, Mossel Bay and Sedgefield all achieved a better average price on transactions in the first month of being on the market, while neighbour Knysna’s average was the same as Plett’s.
Price achieved as % of original asking price
