Quality. Community. Security. These three concepts are central to the residential project which is due to break ground in the coming months. Keswick Village, being developed in the well-established suburb of Elfindale, is aimed at both younger families looking to get into the property market, and older folks wanting to downscale while maintaining a quality lifestyle. As the area’s first mature lifestyle estate, the focus will be on encouraging multigenerational living which allows seniors to enjoy a lockup-and-go lifestyle while still sharing the space with younger families. Increasing studies affirm the benefits of multigenerational communities where residents participate in enriching the life of the community with
history of knowledge and support. Over the next few months, the 16 500m2 Keswick Road plot – which stretches from Haupt Street to Punts Street and has been vacant for many years – will be transformed into a secure estate comprising 75 houses each with its own private garden.
Keswick Village is being developed through a partnership between Quoin Online, DNL Properties and Hometown Spaces who are no strangers to the history and nuances of the area, having recently developed the nearby Rochester Village. Through their latest development they once again endeavour to make “good properties in good areas available at good prices”. Many of the units will have views of
the tops of the Constantiaberg mountains and offers quiet suburban living with all the convenience of being centrally located in the southern suburbs. If it’s convenience you seek, Keswick Village is closely situated to Diep River Station, the Mediclinic Constantiaberg as well as Blue Route Mall, Constantia
Village shopping centre and Park ‘n Shop in Bergvliet. Residents of Keswick Village can also enjoy open spaces and entertainment at the various parks and attractions in the immediate surrounding area.
Architecture Keswick Village is being developed to accommodate all generations, with a focus on Cape Winelands architecture and a strong emphasis on security and community living. Catering for a range of living requirements, the development will include 2-bedroom simplexes and duplexes, all of which will have private back gardens and most of which, garages. The interiors will focus on spacious, open-plan living with modern fitted kitchens and well-appointed bathrooms. High quality finishes throughout with bespoke countertops, ceramic tiles and a choice of floor coverings that add an
air of luxury.

As seen within the South African market, the choice of asset classes is limited to the traditional four: office, retail, industrial and residential. These asset classes may perform well in the long term but are expected to churn out short term returns consistently. This creates a mismatch of expected return and performance. The reason why the expected returns are not met is that investors do not anticipate the cyclical nature of the economy. Often, when the asset class under performs, investors dump the asset, taking an immediate loss as opposed to riding out the property cycle and waiting for such asset to perform.

The defining feature for the property sector is that capital behaves very differently in South Africa, when compared to the rest of the world. Two components influence this difference. Firstly, the rand, unlike the dollar, Euro or British pound is very liquid. There is also a much higher portion of pension funds, relative to GDP, under management. This is evidenced by South Africa having some of the largest pension funds in the world, with the Government Employees Pension Fund being around the eighth largest globally.

The present pandemic has accelerated many trends within the market. The main accelerated trend was the need for technological solutions to enable remote working. Businesses have had to evolve to align with Covid-19’s regulations, restrictions and constraints.

An important aspect of the property industry worth discussing is the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on valuations. Valuations assert a calculated value on a property based on a set of parameters. Usually, the value is based on historical values, the transaction value (better known as the market value), and the income-generating value. During the lockdown, the property industry and its processes were halted as workplaces closed their doors. Deals were put on the backburner and no transactions occurred for several weeks. Deals that were concluded did not transfer as the Deeds Office was closed and so re-opening faces a huge backlog.

Topic Two of the Round Table Discussions was conducted at the end of May.

Quoin Online and URERU have joined to create round table discussions which investigate and facilitate discussions on how the pandemic impacted the property industry and its processes.

Topic two was facilitated by Francois Viruly and Robert McGaffin from URERU and our two participants, Deon van Zyl, Chairman of the Western Cape Property Development Forum, and Derek Henstra, managing partner at DHK Architects.

To watch CLICK BELOW

Quoin Online has supported an NGO programme in Kewtown, Athlone for the last two years. BABS (Build a Better Society) had been started almost 45 years ago by Professor Richard van der Ross (the first rector of UWC) and the first social worker in the area, George Gibbs. Currently the programme runs an educare centre for 100 children, aged from 6 months to 5 years. It also runs a seniors programme and provides social programmes and meals to the elderly in the area.

Prior to the global pandemic which has, and will have, severe economic consequences, the property industry was taking strain. The Urban Real Estate Research Unit, based at the University of Cape Town, had concluded that the vacancy costs for a landlord had increased from 6 months of lost income to 18 months by the beginning of January 2020. This, together with rising operating costs and increased rates and taxes, has meant that landlords need to find more efficient ways of filling their vacancies, together with reducing the cost in doing so. Fears are mounting that the impact of Covid-19 could potentially result in thousands of job losses with businesses closing and vacancy rates spiking sharply. However, these changes are cyclical and structural and as some businesses close, other new industries are created. It is anticipated that the Covid-19 pandemic may just have accelerated the disruptor effect and that certain technology changes and shifts in behavioural patterns may occur sooner. This may well be the case for remote learning, online shopping etc., but it will still be important for humans to socialise, party, attend shows and other recreational activities.

The coronavirus has rocked the entire world, shaking every corner of the globe with a fury that has been unmatched since the Second World War. A week is a long time in political life and even more so during this time.  Markets are changing as we speak.