By Richard Arderne
To help answer this question, let’s have a look at St Anne’s Close, one of the very nicest areas on the Links.
The original plots transferred from the developer between 2006 and 2007 at an average price of R1.1m.
Since the launch, there have been 46 vacant plot re-sales sales in St Anne’s Close:
40 plots sold between 2009 and mid 2023 at an average price of only R650,000.
(almost certainly all at a loss versus the original prices)
Then something happened!
(a year or so later than it happened elsewhere like the canals)
Over the last 9 months there have been 6 sales at an average price suddenly way higher, R2.2m!
But, with South African inflation, if you paid R1.1m in 2006, you would need to sell your plot today for R3m to have the same buying power with your proceeds.
In other words, these recent St Anne’s plots have been bought at bargains (on average at R2.2m) relative to the original launch prices, and at great value, especially considering the St Francis Links lifestyle, the cost of servicing plots to such a high standard, with great views, plus all the other Links features … third best golf course in South Africa, world class security, wonderful clubhouse, gym, heated pool, nature walks, and community spirit!
The escalation in vacant plot prices has not only been happening in the St Anne’s area of the Links, but the escalation has probably slightly less dramatic elsewhere.
For example, the few plots left in the driving range area (around 600m2 each) have sold post Covid for about R550, 000, at least double the prices from the pre-Covid years.
Consider also our list of St Francis Links plots for sale:
December 2018:
28 plots under R1m, from R130,000, only two over R1m (one was our own plot for R1.9m, the other R1.1m)
May 2024:
25 plots for sale, from R850,000, only five under R1.5m, six R1.5m – R2m, 14 over R2m (of which two are R4m and one is R6.5m)
Links lots have on average at least doubled in price over the last five years, possibly more! But as per above are still excellent value.
What about plot price escalation in other parts of St Francis Bay?
For example, Santareme and Village plot prices (for non-prime plots) have also escalated but less than on the Links, on average have only doubled:
In Santareme, plot prices have doubled from about R200,000 on average pre-Covid to about R400,000 now, and Village plots (for example Lyme Road North) have also doubled, from about R300,000 to about R600,000 now.
Why am I analyzing plots and not houses? This is because plots don’t undergo changes (eg renovations) like houses do, so its way easier with plots to spot trends than with houses.
Pam Golding’s involvement with property on the Links began in 2005 when I bought the Pam Golding franchise. We sold plots for a few years, mostly at a small profit for the seller, until the financial crisis of 2007/2008, when the “wheels came off”.
We soon had way too many plots for sale, so we contacted all the sellers and suggested that they should only consider selling if they HAD to sell.
So we reduced the stock considerably, and then made many sales over the next few years, but at rather low prices, which hardly moved up until Covid dramatically elevated property demand for St Francis.
Personal Note:
My wife and I bought a small Links plot for a very low price in 2015, and built a small house in 2019, which we occupied for two years, which we really enjoyed.
We then bought another Links plot, a prime plot in Old Head Road in 2019, but the quotes we received for the house we wanted to build were too high, and we were fortunate to find a house on the Santareme coast, for less than those quotes.
But we did manage to sell our plot and our house for considerably more than we paid for them.
PS Our Links specialist Saria Blaauw sold properties to an amazing value of R42m in the first two months of our financial year, that is March and April.
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