This five bedroom, two bathroom home offers a modern kitchen, seperate laundry room and a double garage. It is priced at R1.595 million - click here to view.

There were big price drops in the sale prices of Strand homes in past years, but these are now definitely over.  

This is according to Wouter Joubert, co-franchisee and manager of Rawson Properties Strand, who says it may be time for homeowners to consider a re-evaluation of their properties. 

Joubert says this year they are witnessing a five to six percent overall price increase in middle bracket homes. 

This year so far, Rawson Properties Strand have been selling 10 to 14 houses per month, which is double the rate of last year, he notes. 

Joubert says, however, this good news applies mainly to middle bracket freestanding homes, i.e. those selling from R850 000 to R1.4 million. Any home in a reasonably good area in this price category, if it is fairly priced, he says, will be sold within a fortnight. 

An aerial view of the Hibernian building on Beach Road. The units on offer include a three bedroom, two bathroom unit on sale for R2.8 million and a one bedroom, one bathroom bachelor pad on sale for R1.099 million - click here to view.

In the higher priced bracket, i.e. R1.5 million to R5 million, he says, it can still take far longer to achieve a sale and owners have now to accept anything from a 15 to 25 percent drop on the prices that were paid in the 2007/early 2008 boom. 

Particularly hard hit in the upper price brackets, Joubert says, are the much coveted luxury sectional title units along the internationally acclaimed Beach Road. This precinct has some of the finest coastal properties in South Africa. 

Joubert says five to six years ago, in a flush of optimism and confidence, many new developments along this road were built and people were happy to pay up to R4 million for a luxury high rise unit. This, he says, often equated to R20 000 per square metre. 

Today many of those same units are selling for R12 000 to R14 000 per square metre.  What this means, Joubert says, is that anyone taking the plunge today will, in five years from now, find themselves owning an asset that will represent excellent value for money and be the envy of sectional title owners throughout South Africa. 

Also not faring as well as the middle bracket homes mentioned above, Joubert says, have been the more affordable, investment units set back from the beachfront, many of which are situated in the not-so-popular areas. Here prices can be as low as R280 000. 

An example of a sectional title development where more affordable investment units are available for  about R300 000. A two bedroom, two bathroom unit is available at R437 000 - click here to view.

This market too went through a boom five years ago, but today sellers struggle to get even close to the prices they paid back then, he says. 

Joubert says the message they need to get out to the public is that in all categories, prices are still exceptionally reasonable, especially when compared to those of other Helderberg Basin nodes, such as Somerset West.  

This is, therefore, the ideal place for the slightly less affluent, the first time buyer and the retiree buyer to be looking – and, with some 300 sectional title and 150 freestanding units on their stock books they, like other agents in the area, can offer a wide range of choice, he explains. 

Buyers, he says, are finding it far easier to get bonds now, and this too should be spurring them on to make a decision while interest rates are at their all-time record low.