Buying Coastal Property in Ballito
Category News
Families are increasingly drawn to settle here on a permanent basis.
In addition to Crawford College in La Lucia and Umhlanga College, new schools in Ballito and its surrounds include Trinity College in Palm Lakes, Curro Schools just north of Ballito and the ever growing Umhlali Preparatory School as well as Ashton International College.
Shoppers are amply catered for with three full-sized malls in the town itself: Lifestyle Centre, The Junction and Ballito Bay Mall, while it’s only a short drive to Umhlanga’s Gateway shopping centre, the largest self-contained shopping centre in the southern hemisphere.
De Beer says there is no doubt that King Shaka International Airport has made a significant impact on the Ballito area. He says increased interest among investors began about two to three years ago with the construction and opening of the airport and Dube Tradeport, although initially there was a wait-and-see attitude from the major players.
This interest has now become a stream of enquiries and it seems this is only the start, he says. “Established commercial developments north of Durban are at a premium, with prices being driven up by the land shortage. There are, however, sites between 8 000 and 30 000 square metres available in Ballito Services Park North and South, adjacent to the N2, while smaller sites between 1 600 and 7 000 square metres can be had in Ballito Business Park, directly behind the Lifestyle Shopping Centre, and at Imbonini Industrial Park on the western side of the N2.”
De Beer says with the business community along the North Coast flourishing in recent years, both commercial and residential property prices have increased steadily, and from a residential perspective, new properties in Ballito are constantly in demand and realistically priced homes are taken up as quickly as they are listed.
Ballito caters for a broad cross section of buyers, ranging from entry-level one bedroom apartments at R800 000 and two bedroom units from R950 000, to the middle market where two and three bedroom apartments and homes are priced between R1.5 million and R2.5 million. At the top end of the market a luxurious four or five bedroom unit in an upmarket apartment building will achieve in excess of R3.5 million anda four, five or six bedroom standalone home within a luxury lifestyle development will set you back from R5.5 million upwards.
De Beer says beachfront properties in Ballito sellfrom R1.5 million upwards with the average being between R2.5 million to R3 million and freestanding homes from R9 million upwards , while within the lifestyle estates they currently have homes listed from R3.5 million to R35 million.
He says in Zimbali, one of South Africa’s premier coastal estates, the trend is also increasingly towards buyers seeking primary residences. However, he says a significant number of home buyers are Johannesburg-based, with some commuting to work weekly while their families remain on the estate.
Comprising a total of 700 hectares and with an anticipated 1 200 households, Zimbali is now 85 percent completed. Since being launched in 1996, property prices have increased by a phenomenal 1 000 percent. For example, vacant beachfront property in 1996 sold for around R1.2 million and today vacant beachfront land is selling and has sold for R11 million and upwards.
Entry-level developments in Zimbali include three bedroom, three bathroom private villas priced from R3.75 million, while in Simbithi Eco-Estate, new projects include a development comprising 32 freestanding homes priced between R2.5 million and R3.2 million. Palm Lakes Estate, situated in Tinley manor just north of Ballito offers a unique building package on vacant sites, priced fromR2.2 million to R3 million on approximately 600 to 700 square metres of land and comprising three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Palm Lakes Estate is also developing a unique retirement village offering freestanding two and three bedroom homes as well as aftercare and frail care facilities