Buy-to-let investors in Cape Towns's Brackenfell precint are now onto a very good wicket.

Estate agents in Brackenfell and its surrounding areas are reporting a steady rise (estimated at at least 20% per annum) among investors rather than owner occupiers, says Rowan Alexander, Director of Alexander Swart Property.

Commenting on this, Jason Blight, a listing agent at Alexander Swart, says that with the banks now tightening up on the mortgage loan criteria, the demand for rental properties is increasing month by month and, he says, the returns available to investors in rented residential property have seldom been as good as they are right now, particularly in the Brackenfell area.

“In most of Cape Town’s Northern Suburbs,” he says, “any property priced below R1,5 million is likely to be a good buy-to-let prospect and apartments in the R700,000 to R900,000 bracket are especially worth considering for investment purposes.  In these property categories the buyer can usually qualify for a 90% bond and will usually find that his rentals will come close to covering his monthly bond repayments -- in many cases they cover them right from the outset.  From a very early stage, therefore, the investor will be getting all the benefits of a fast appreciating property asset (currently growing in value at 10,2% per annum) at little or no cost to himself and two or three years later his rent increases are likely to ensure that he is also earning an income from the property while continuing to pay it off.”

Additional good news for  investor buyers, says Blight, is that Alexander Swart are finding that the number of properties that they list for sale is also rising.  His division on its own now lists about a dozen new homes for sale (all on sole mandates) each month.  This, he says, gives the Alexander Swart agents increased opportunities as all of them are allowed to sell any property listed by the agency, i.e. just not those properties that they themselves have brought in. The total number of properties now for sale by Alexander Swart has  risen to around 80 in any given month and for the first time in their history they are operating throughout the Greater Cape Town area, not just in certain designated northern suburbs.

For further information contact Rowan Alexander on 082 581 3116.