Kenilworth’s golden oldies are selling fast

Southern suburb is becoming popular with younger buyers as it offers good value and flats have smart finishes

KENILWORTH’S sectional title golden oldies are proving popular, with buyers snapping them up almost as fast as they are being listed, and an excellent investment with strong capital appreciation, according to Sean Guy and Belinda Keys of Seeff.

“The demand for sectional title property in particular is now so strong that we easily see two to three sales a week,” say the agents.

As one of the older residential areas of the southern suburbs, Kenilworth has a wealth of older properties, about 60 percent of which are sectional title, predominantly apartments.

These are often more spacious compared to new builds and some even have parquet flooring and pressed ceilings that have become highly sought after by buyers, many of whom want to renovate and upgrade.

“Despite its prime location, Kenilworth is still generally cheaper than neighbouring Claremont and Newlands for example,” says Guy.

“The sales trend clearly illustrates the affordability on the one hand, but also the value growth on the other.

Of the 116-odd sectional title sales worth a combined value of just under R153 million that have been recorded for the past years, almost half were still below the R1.5m price band.

“At the same time, just over 15 percent of the sales were above the R2m price band, significantly more than during 2013 when only about 3 percent of sales fell above this mark. Top end sales ranged to as much as R3.5m for a unit in Palm Grove on Main Road and R3.45m for a unit at The Close in Summerley Road, sold by Seeff.”

That the suburb is proving an excellent investment can be further gleaned from the value growth over the last two years, says Guy.

“Two years ago, the average price for sectional title units was around R991 000. Today, it is around R1.3m, about 31 percent more than in 2013 and 15 percent up o n l a s t year’s R1.129m.

“Last year, apartments in the area above the railway line were selling for an average R13 687/m Based on this year’s sales, the rate is now at around R15 845/m2, about 16 percent up year-on-year.”

He says a few notable sales even surpassed this. These include two sales at Robyndale on Kenilworth Main Road where an 85m unit was sold for R20 588/ m2 ( R1.75m) and an 8 6 m uni t f o r R21 5 1 2 / m (R1.85m).

A 97m unit in Oak Lodge in Oak Avenue was also sold for R21 134/m2 (R2.05m). In Main Road, a 144m unit in Glen Valley was sold for R18 056/ m2 (R2.6m), a 91m2 unit in Northdene for R19 780/m (R1.8m) and a 161m2 unit in Palm Grove for R21 739/m2 (R3.5m).

“Two recent Seef f sales were also at record prices. The first, a 69m unit in Pine Place on Main Road was sold for R21 884/m2 (R1.51m), up from the previous highest rate of R19 074/ m2 achieved during 2014. The second, a 163m unit in The Close in Summerley Road was sold for R21 166/m2, up from the previous high of R17 857/m2 paid last year.

At R3.45m, it was also the second highest price paid for a sectional title unit in the suburb this year,” says Guy.

“Although sales activity has remained flat year-on-year, in part due to stock shortages, we are still very much in a sellers’ market for the area,” says Keys. “Properties are selling on average within about 4 percent to 5 percent of the listing prices, and are still attracting multiple offers and selling quite quickly.

“A two-bedroom apartment in Brackley Court, Cumnor Avenue for example was sold within 10 days for the full listing price of R1.7m.

“A similar unit in Beauleigh Mansions on Main Road was also sold for the full listing price of R1.75m within six days of listing, and a one-bedroom unit in Pine Place, also on Main Road, was sold within a day of listing for the full listing price of R975 000.

“The Beauleigh Mansions sale is a good illustration of the demand. As soon as i t was listed, there was immediate interest from several buyers, with multiple viewings and two offers at the full listing price before the first show day.

“The 128m two- bedroom Beauleigh Mansions apartment was sold for R13 672/m about 10 percent more than the previous highest price of R12 423/m achieved only a few months earlier for a 163m2 unit that had three bedrooms, a second bathroom and a garage.”

The agents say there is also keen interest in townhouses and clusters in the area especially in complexes such as Chartwell Place, Caraden Gardens, Doulton Mews, Tulani and Greenfields.

“Kenilworth is fast becoming a very trendy place with a young population.

“In fact, according to the latest Lightstone data, about 42 percent of recent buyers are under 35.”

SNAPPED UP: Beauleigh Mansions, Kenilworth where a two-bedroom unit was recently sold for the full listing price of R1.75m within six days of listing.