[Image: Flickr]
The lifestyles of the rich and the famous have officially found their spiritual home — Clifton, where the ocean is bluer, the wine flowier, and the property prices straight-up offensive.
In case anyone needed a reminder that Cape Town’s Atlantic Seaboard isn’t playing in the same financial league as the rest of us, a record-smashing property deal has just closed that’ll make your bank balance curl up in shame.
A five-bedroom apartment on Clifton’s 1st Beach has reportedly been snapped up for a jaw-dropping R145 million, The Citizen reported. Yes, that’s one hundred and forty-five million rand. For an apartment. Not a hotel. Not a villa in Tuscany. An apartment.
Naturally, it’s decked out with designer everything, and the views are the kind that inspire lifestyle envy and spontaneous identity crises. Because obviously, if you’re paying that kind of cash, the sea better sparkle better than bottled Fiji water.
The deal was sealed by Lance Cohen of Lance Real Estate — a man who clearly knows his way around the one percent. He told the Sunday Times the apartment “represented the record for the highest price paid for an apartment sold in South Africa,” adding that the previous record was a paltry R120 million. Chump change, really.
The buyer? Oh, just a former South African now living in Monaco. Because, of course.
Meanwhile, the average price tag for homes on the Clifton market hovers between R30 million and R60 million, which used to sound ridiculous until someone just paid over double that. Cohen, riding the wave of real estate madness, is also currently marketing a six-bedroom house in Fresnaye for R75 million and a R95 million four-bedroom number in the same area. Because why not?
And if you thought R145 million was peak absurdity, hold on – Cohen might outdo himself with a five-bedroom Clifton house currently listed for R160 million. Let’s hope the floors are made of gold and the taps pour Krug.
Now, while this sale set the bar for apartments, it’s still pocket change compared to the most expensive home in South Africa: Casablanca. Not the movie but the Camps Bay behemoth with eight bedrooms, 13 bathrooms (why?), and a price tag of roughly R700 million. That’s about US$35 million for anyone counting in global pain.
Why is everyone throwing fortunes at Cape Town real estate, you ask? According to the Residential Property Price Index released by Stats SA earlier this month, Cape Town is over 10 index points ahead of Johannesburg and it’s even further ahead when it comes to first-time and resale properties.
John Lawson, CEO of the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry, chalks it up to good governance. “The gaping disparity mirrors a similar trend in municipal infrastructure development and service delivery, with property investors favouring Cape Town’s value proposition,” he said.
Yep, the Mother City works, it’s gorgeous, and it’s become the Monopoly board of global high-rollers.
Meanwhile, the rest of us are just trying to afford a flat with windows that close properly and no mold in the bathroom.
[Source: Citizen]
