CEOs Message Jun

It comes with great pride to confirm that Durban has been identified as a key real estate market for global investors

According to Luxury Defined, an in-depth report compiled by Christies International Real Estate to analyse trends shaping the luxury residential real estate market globally, Durban has been listed as one of the seven key real estate markets globally that present attractive opportunities for investment, exclusivity, and getaways in 2015.
 
The report, which defines ‘luxury’ as being a home costing approximately $750 000, confirms that the sales growth in Durban’s luxury home market during 2013-2014 has increasedbyan impressive 50%.

Being the only Christies International Real Estate affiliate in KwaZulu Natal, our experience shows that a supply shortage in homes as well as relatively low interest rates are factors in driving growth in the luxury property market. In addition, there is a recent trend of new homes being built to satisfy demand, making Durban an appealing investment option for 2015 and beyond.

The City has been listed along with Puerto Rico, Canary Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Saint-Jean-De-Luz (France), Costa Rica and Telluride (Colorado).
Further reiterating Durban’s investment appeal, World-acclaimed news source CNN recently voted Durban as one of the world’s top 10 most underrated cities, predicting that Durban will be this year’s fastest growing city in Africa and the second-fastest growing tourism city of the 132 cities surveyed worldwide. Durban has also been featured globally on the Smart Cities Programme as one of the top 18 places to live, ultimately attracting international interest to further boost the luxury market.
In addition to this Durban Tourism together with Durban Investment Promotion team and its business partners have launched the Durban Visitor Strategy, a 7 year plan aimed at boosting international visitors. The objective of the plan is to attract 5 million tourists by 2020, inject R10 billion into the economy and support 74000 jobs. This combined with the fact that Durban is responsible for generating 65% of the provinces economy, and that there are large amounts of vacant land available at realistic prices proves that Durban is bustling with opportunities for investment.  
With this in mind, we can confirm that luxury sales in Durban’s affluent suburbs are on the increase as buyers are returning to the security of long-term investments in the residential property market. The unprecedented growth, unique lifestyle, great weather, strong local business sector and easy accessibility has really bolstered high-end prices within the greater city.

Now in its third year, Luxury Defined includes the collective insights and quantitative data from the world's leading luxury real estate network. It has been widely broadened this year and establishes new benchmarks to further explore and define the dynamics and drivers impacting, high-value asset classes (from fine art to real estate). This year’s report ranks the world’s top 10 cities for prime property and analyses more than 70 key regional markets worldwide.

We feel a great sense of achievement for the city of Durban to gain recognition from global market research. Durban has a lot to offer to investors and tourists – in terms of its cosmopolitan city and beach combination, infrastructure and aesthetics. This insight bodes for the Durban property market as a whole.

Other key findings of the report highlight the fact that 2014 welcomed a return to normality in most major cities with growth showing signs of stabilising in locations such as Paris, New York and Sydney. Second home markets led the growth of high-value sales in 2014, with 'Jet set destinations' recording on average a 28% year-on-year increase. In addition to this, more properties than ever before were both sold and listed for sale at US $100 million or higher in 2014.