According to Lightstone data, over the last 10 years average prices of homes in Kempton Park, and particularly those close to Festival Mall, have increased from R342 000 in 2004 to R915 000 currently.
Festival Mall is owned by Acucap Properties Limited, a Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed property company.
Located at the Cnr of CR Swart Drive and Kelvin Street, the mall has a GLA of over 80 000 square metres with over 150 retail stores.
In the past 10 years, the mall like the area, has seen changes and revamps, however, it is not possible to accurately determine what the impact of the mall is on residential property sales, according to Nelson Ferreira, Pam Golding Properties area principal in Kempton Park and on the East Rand.
Ferreira explains that the number of sales did decrease notably in the recession years but what they are experiencing now as an agency is a significant increase in those sales numbers.
For example, he says their year-on-year sales turnover and the number of sales in the Kempton Park area is 43 percent up on 2012.
He says they cover areas like Norkem Park, Terenure, Edleen, Van Riebeck Park and Kempton Central (all of which are in very close proximity to the mall) and they are experiencing a large number of hits on their website and on Property24.com.
“There is definitely an increase in the demand for homes in this current market, but this is what we are experiencing in the East Rand areas of Benoni, Boksburg and Brakpan.”
In particular, he says there is a surge in demand for sectional title units, which he believes is primarily based on the following factors:
- value for money and resultant accessibility for first-time home buyers
- security and convenience
- certain banks’ appetite for this type of lending
Ferreira says they have expanded the Kempton Park Pam Golding Properties sales office to 380 square metres of prime office space primarily due to the growth in the market as well as their long-term prospects in the area.
Coincidentally, he says Festival Mall is one of their planned venues/destinations for their Property Exhibition Roadshow, which was held at the East Rand Mall in 2013.
“We chose Festival Mall because it is a destination mall that is home to South Africa’s top retail stores, restaurants and entertainment facilities.
“Buyers and sellers in all price ranges frequent this mall as a ‘top’ alternative to the East Rand Mall,” he says.
A quick look at properties sold on Property24.com reveals that in Terenure in 2005, a property was sold for R2.4 million and listings show that one can still buy a one bedroom apartment for prices around R415 000.
Click here for Kempton Park property listings. – Denise Mhlanga