Residential property is the asset most South Africans would buy if they had R1-million to invest, according to a recent poll by online property portal Propertygenie.co.za — and a wine estate in Paarl is the dream property most South Africans would buy if they had R25-million to spend.
The research was carried out late last year to gauge whether South African’s perceptions towards property had changed after a series of rate hikes and slower price growth.
“It’s still way up on top of investor’s wish list with 58% of respondents saying they would invest in residential property if they were given R1-million to spend, ” says Johan Strydom, general manager of Propertygenie.co.za.
“It shows that despite the less favourable environment for house prices, investors are savvy enough to take a long-term view and expect residential property to outperform over time.”
Commercial property was voted the second-most-desirable investment with just more than 20% of the vote, followed by the money market (8,4%) and gold shares with 7,8% of the votes.
Unit trusts received only just more than 4% of the votes, while only 1% of respondents said they would put their money into art.
When asked what sort of property they would buy with R25-million, a wine estate in Paarl was the top choice for 35% of respondents, edging out a beachfront house in Clifton, which garnered 33% of the votes.
“It was neck and neck in the voting for this one with no clear winner until right at the end of the poll,” notes Strydom. “Wine farms and Clifton have always been the most consistent dream homes for many people and are always on the top of the ‘must have’ for the mega-wealthy set.”
Surprisingly, third on the list was the “half the farms in the Karoo” category with 20% of the vote, ahead of a “beach house in Plett”, which got 8,3% of the votes. A mansion in Sandton was fifth on the dream-property wish list with 3,6% of respondents ticking this box.
“The survey was consistent with global trends that show that ‘lifestyle properties’ with space and healthy environments are at a growing premium the world over as cities become congested, polluted and increasingly pricey.”