Will Spring 2020 make coastal properties bloom?

COVID-19 might be far from over, but we're making ground and starting to find our feet in this changed new world.
The property market is no exception. With remote working now a viable alternative across industries, more and more people are reconsidering their home base.  
To celebrate fresh new beginnings, we're taking a closer look at 'semigration' to the coastal areas and what the data can tell us.

Coastal properties are no longer just a second home or second choice. As COVID-19 makes remote working a long-term reality, there is the possibility that more and more people will be looking to 'semigrate' between big city opportunities and relaxed lifestyle living along coastal areas like Durban and Cape Town and their surrounding areas. 

COVID-19 has been a game changer the world over. Not only has it enforced remote working, it also forced people to re-evaluate what they value and want out of life. Family, nature and lifestyle were the big winners the world over, which is why many countries, from the USA to Australia, are seeing a steady incline in people moving away from big expensive cities to smaller cities and towns where quality of life, family and affordability are most valued. In the USA, real estate company Redfin reported that page views of homes in small towns more than doubled during the last week of April, compared with the same week in 2019. And, as remote working becomes a permanent option across many jobs sectors and industries, this reverse migration out of the cities and into the countryside and seaside is likely only beginning.

In South Africa, the trend is less about small town living and more about the relaxed lifestyle afforded at the coast. The trend is playing out differently across age groups, and property buyers in their late 20s and 30s and early retirees are leading the coastal buys (see image 1)

Established professionals in their 40s and early retirees are upsizing their properties to take advantage of the outdoor lifestyle in the popular coastal regions of KZN and the Western Cape (see image 2)

On the other end of the scale, the more debt-conscious Millennials and Gen X buyers are choosing to downsize their homes as they upgrade their lifestyles by moving to the more relaxed coastal regions (see image 3)

As has been the trend for the past five years, the Western Cape leads the way for both first-time and repeat purchases, followed by KZN (see images 4+5)

It will be interesting to take note over the coming months how the option of 'semigration' will impact coastal property purchases. If you only have to go into the office once in a while, why spend seven days in the city fighting traffic and paying higher prices? This thinking may well continue to drive 'semimigration' to the relaxed coastal areas, as remote working becomes a permanent option for many, and a relaxed lifestyle becomes a more valued commodity.

article courtesy LIGHTSTONE