According to local property experts, the North Coast’s buoyant development sector is expected to continue trending upwards despite economic pressures at the national level. At a recent property panel discussion hosted by Pam Golding Ballito and chaired by David Cameron, co-owner of the agency, the resident experts were Brian Wright, the founder of the Ballito UIP and manager of eight similar nodes across the province, Murray Collins, the owner of Collins Group, and Cobus Oelofse, the CEO of the iLembe Chamber of Commerce.
Although acknowledging significant obstacles at the national and local levels, including the electricity crisis and ongoing socio-economic disparities, the trio felt the North Coast was best placed to weather the storm. Collins suggested that off-the-grid living was happening organically due to the amount of investment in alternative energy, and that Eskom’s importance would diminish as a result.
Collins also highlighted the ongoing private investment upgrades to public infrastructure, such as the Sheffield road interchange, as examples of mutually beneficial public-private partnerships with the municipality. He stated that there is no better place in the country to live than the North Coast and that he was tired of hearing about everyone wanting to move to Cape Town.
Wright echoed Collins’ sentiments, suggesting that the notion of property value was increasingly about how locations are managed, rather than just location. He cited the five-year increase in Ballito property value of 43% as proof that many people agreed, be it via ‘semigration’ north from Durban or from inland to the coast. He attributed this, in part, to a conscious decision to make Ballito a destination and create a vision of what it could be.
When asked whether Ballito could shift away from being a seasonal economy, Oelofse highlighted under-utilised attractions that could draw year-round tourism. He mentioned the Sebhudu Cave just inland of Tongaat, which is one of the most significant archaeological sites in the Southern Hemisphere, and the King Shaka heritage route, which has huge cultural heritage to the community. He also pointed out that the northern industrial hubs at Isithebe Industrial Estate and those surrounding the Hesto Harnesses site outside of KwaDukuza were proof that manufacturing could flourish locally.
Collins hinted that international investment could return to the area in the form of Club Med and Heineken. Although he did not confirm any details, he stated that talks had reopened after both were rumored to want to invest in the area in 2019 before Covid-19 mothballed the projects.
Combined, it paints a rosy picture for development, where widespread investment has helped to grow the income of the KwaDukuza Municipality (KDM) by more than 80% in the past five years. The experts’ optimistic outlook is encouraging for the North Coast’s property market, which appears to be in a position to continue its upward trend.
