#PropertyReport: North Coast sentiment back on a high

It’s safe to say that KZN has a taken a few knocks in recent years with riots and floods.

This brought about some knee-jerk reactions, that relocating to the Cape, moving to George and other coastal locations was the way to go.

But the dust has settled and in my opinion there are only positive reasons as to why KZN, and in particular the North Coast, is the place to be excited about in terms of investment and the place to live in South Africa.

One could write reams and offer many reasons why this is the case, but I want to drill down on some more recent announcements that many of you would have heard of by now that illustrate the positivity in the area and its future growth.

A few weeks ago, the Collins Residential Group invited a group of property practitioners to the Manor House next to the Lalela development, to announce a few upgrades and proposals which they are an integral part of.

The big one, of course, was the confirmation that Club Med will be breaking ground soon in Tinley Manor, with the first guests expected to arrive in a few years’ time.

The fact that Club Med has chosen our part of southern Africa over other potential locations speaks volumes of what they think of the beautiful North Coast.

They quite clearly have strict criteria when selecting a new destination, and Tinley obviously ticked all the boxes.

One vital criterion is a warm year-round climate, which our friends in Camps Bay and St Francis cannot claim to have.

And another favourable factor is the close proximity to an international airport, which is not always easy to find for a coastal destination with the right climate.

Apart from attracting significant high-end traveller spend to the region, Club Med will also boost the local economy as its project development will involve many contractors, sub-contractors and other employment-creating activities.

Equally exciting, in my opinion, are the additional infrastructure upgrades that are also coming to the area.

Several are desperately needed and will certainly be required as new developments continue to grow.

A major upgrade is the completion of the tarring of the road leading to Flag Farm (the municipal P228 road) and the new off-ramp that will be constructed between Salt Rock and Tinley Manor – which Collins confirmed will be completed during 2024.

This addition will be revolutionary for the developments and residential area north of Salt Rock and will have a very positive impact on house prices.

Even sooner will be the widening of the road and an improved traffic flow at the Salt Rock Road and Sheffield Beach Road intersection.

These two improvements will provide a huge relief in the Sheffield/Salt Rock area, again making properties in these areas more desirable and having a positive impact on property values.

The Collins Residential Group also spoke about the welcome announcement that an independent school will be built in the mixed-use zone between Sheffield Manor and Lalela.

This will be both a primary and a high school and is in the final stages of approval, with first admissions potentially as soon as 2026.

Add to all this the other investments that have been written about recently relating to the airport area and Durban port, and it doesn’t take an economist or financial planner to tell you that investing in property on the North Coast area over the next 10 years should yield some very good returns.

When looking to invest in areas, a vital criterion is how well the area is future proofed. All of these announcements hit that metric.

Markets for the most part run on sentiment, and I strongly feel with all of the mentioned factors above and further future developments on the horizon, that the North Coast sentiment is back with a bang – that is if it ever really went away!

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