It appears that the market for luxury apartments in Sandton has shrugged off the property price slump, with values of residential units on Nelson Mandela Square continuing to test new highs.

Figures from property research group Lightstone show that a number of apartments in the swanky Michelangelo Towers building have recently been sold for between 50% and 100% more than buyers paid when they bought the units off-plan in 2006/2007.

Apartments that were selling for an average R22k/sq m to R26k/sqm three to four years ago at the height of the property boom are now selling for between R34k/sqm to R44k/sqm, Lightstone data show. One-bedroom units of around 85sqm that were bought for R1,6m shortly before the Michelangelo Towers was completed in March 2007, have recently been resold for R3m.

The highest price paid for an apartment in the Michelangelo Towers to date is R36m for a 500sqm penthouse unit in early 2008. That translates into a rate of R72k/sq m. The same unit was originally sold off-plan three years ago for R25m.

That record was overtaken late last year when a penthouse apartment at the neighbouring Da Vinci development was sold for a staggering R50m to a UK buyer. Da Vinci is the Legacy Group’s latest Sandton residential development currently under construction on Nelson Mandela Square. The off-plan sale of the 650sqm penthouse unit sets a new record for sectional title prices in Gauteng, translating into a rate of around R77k/sqm.

Paul Winterstein, property sales director of auctioneer‘s Aucor, confirms that values of luxury apartments on Nelson Mandela Square have held up well. The group has sold four apartments in the Michelangelo Towers and Raphael Penthouse Suites over the past 12 months.

Two more units, an 80sqm one-bedroom apartment in the Raphael and a 115sqm two-bedroom apartment in the Michelangelo Towers, will be up for grabs at a multi-property auction to be held by Aucor in Sandton next week Thursday (25 February).

Winterstein says despite the overall downturn in the residential property market, demand for apartments in these buildings remain strong, particularly from buy-to-let investors who can earn healthy income yields in the Sandton precinct. Winterstein says they expect the Raphael to fetch between R2,5m and R3,3m and R4,5m to R5,5m for the Michelangelo Towers one. – Joan Muller

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