Clifton Views and a Lot More for a Cool R85 Million

The New York Times last week promoted a house for sale high above Clifton, Cape Town, for a cool $4 million (or R65 million) in its regular feature “House Hunting in … “, which looks at property for sale around the world.

The house it publicised was a four-bedroom on the slopes of Lion’s Head. A similarly located house for sale, and pictured here, has six bedrooms, garaging for eight cars, and is selling for R85 million.

The Times quoted real estate agents saying prices along the Atlantic Seaboard – where Clifton can be found – were very good and had been driven up by a combination of a favourable exchange rate, a shortage of available properties and the pleasant climate. Overall prices had risen an average of 25 percent to 30 percent, with luxury apartment values going up the most, they were quoted saying.

They said that many people want to retire in places like Clifton, and that the property prices – arguably the highest in South Africa – hold steady.

Although buyers from outside the country used to be mostly English, Irish and German, lately they have been joined by Italians, French, Scandinavians, Swiss and Eastern Europeans, according to the report. Also, South Africans from upcountry are buying in Cape Town, as telecommuting becomes more prevalent.

Buyers from the United States, however, were “few and far between”, the real estate agents said, especially because of the long flight.