Offering an enviable lifestyle and a range of amenities, the northern suburbs’ housing market is flourishing, with house prices in Durbanville showing a healthy capital appreciation in the past decade.
According to Lightstone property data, based on sales since January, the median property price in this suburb has increased by more than 100% in the past decade to R3.1 million. This follows a hiatus between 2018 and 2020 when house prices flatlined at R2.5 million. In recent years, Durbanville has become one of the most sought-after places to live in Cape Town. “House prices have already increased in the first three months of this year from R2.95 million to the current R3.1 million, underlining the considerable demand for property in this area. Growing interest in the northern suburbs has created a buoyant rental market, with many of these tenants going on to buy property in the area,” says Pam Golding Properties area manager Mariël Burger.
“Suburbs such as Durbanville, that offer a choice of excellent schools, amenities, and easy access to the Durbanville Valley with its wine farms and restaurants, are becoming increasingly popular. Most of the recent buyers are between the ages of 36 and 49, suggesting that families are particularly drawn to the suburb,” says Pam Golding Properties area manager Mariël Burger. There are more than 15 multi-lingual primary and high schools in the Durbanville area alone. “As word spreads that Durbanvillle and surrounds offer a country lifestyle with many of the commercial and recreational opportunities one would find closer to the city, the increased demand from buyers wanting to invest in the area will have a knock-on effect on house prices.” Most of the homes in Durbanville are freehold and more than a third of these are located within estates. The suburb is expanding, and in the past year 161 new properties and 24 new plots were sold.
Durbanville’s property market is dynamic with families moving through the area as their needs change. “Many of the buyers in Durbanville and Welgemoed are from other parts of the northern suburbs, especially Plattekloof, Brackenfell and Kraaifontein. We see that as their lifestyle needs change – perhaps they have children starting school – they choose to move,” says Annien Borg, Pam Golding Properties MD for the Boland and Overberg, and area manager for Durbanville and Welgemoed. Home ownership in nearby Welgemoed is comparatively stable. More than half of homeowners here have had their properties for 11 years or more. However, this suburb also appeals to a range of buyers – including retirees, young professionals, families, and more mature homeowners – and many buyers from Durbanville go on to own property in Welgemoed.
With the relocation of large companies, such as the Foschini Group, Pepkor, and Shoprite, to the area, the northern suburbs are becoming a self-sufficient and thriving commercial hub or secondary CBD. The City of Cape Town recently reaffirmed its cooperation with the Greater Tygerberg Partnership to support the socio-economic development of the Greater Tygerberg area. More than R7 billion in building works has been invested in the area in the past decade, boosting business confidence and attracting professionals and entrepreneurs. The proposed R77-million upgrade to Jip de Jager Drive, a primary arterial route linking Durbanville, Welgemoed and Bellville with the N1, will make also make these suburbs more accessible and desirable to buyers working in Cape Town or Stellenbosch and Paarl, adds Burger.
Durbanville and its neighbouring suburbs have come into their own, says Burger. “They have become vibrant, cosmopolitan hubs with people who enjoy good food, fine wine and being outdoors.” The revitalisation of Durbanville’s commercial hub, with many of the popular restaurants and shops one expects to find closer to Cape Town, has helped to also attract younger buyers to the area. “Given the growing interest in living in the northern suburbs, not only because of the lifestyle but also because of the comparable value offering, property investment in these areas offers considerable returns.”
