Burgersfort and Ohrigstad in Limpopo are shrugging off the property slowdown facing the rest of South Africa.

Burgersfort, also named Tubatse after the Tubatse River, is the seat of the province’s Greater Tubatse Municipality which is working hard to position itself as the country’s ‘first democratic platinum city’.

Ronel Breedt, manager of the local franchise office of Realty 1 International Property Group, says that with a population of more than 300 000 people, both towns still have active property markets, with each town catering for a different type of buyer.

“Burgersfort is more active with investors,” says Breedt, “mostly because of the mines in the area. There simply isn’t enough housing for all the people moving into the area and this is a great opportunity for investors in the buy-to-let market.”

Ohrigstad, on the other hand, is more affordable for the local market. A home marketed by Realty 1 offers a good example of the kind of properties that currently offer good value. The property consists of three houses on a stand of around 1600m². One of the houses has three bedrooms while the others have two bedrooms each. Each of the houses has its own back garden whilst they all share a communal garden area in front.

“This is a good investment for someone wanting to buy into the area,” says Breedt. “The rental income for the three houses together is R9500 per month while the asking price for the property is only R960 000.”

Shortage of stock

The shortage of stock in the area is in sharp contrast to the rest of the country, where agents are currently experiencing a glut of properties coming onto the market and a lack of qualified buyers. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a seller’s market.

“Sellers think they can ask whatever prices they want,” says Breedt, “and because buyers are desperate to find accommodation they will pay up. But although prices are definitely higher here than the norm, price is still a major issue and serious sellers need to be prepared to price their homes realistically.” On average, buyers in the area seem to be looking for three beds, two baths and a double garage — but they want it for under R1.2-million.

As with everywhere else, rental demand is sky high and owners can get good returns on their properties. According to Breedt a three bedroom, two bathroom townhouse is currently fetching rental of between R6000 and R7000 a month.

Sales at new developments are also active. The Motaganeng development consists of 900 stands of between 550m² and 1000m² at prices starting from R250 000. The development is 90 percent sold out and Breedt and her team are busy with re-sales. Half of all the stands in The Spekboom River Estate sold within an hour of launching in September 2007. Stands vary in size from 500m² to 1200m² and the average selling price is around R330 000 while some of the larger waterfront sites goes up to R1.2-million.

Limpopo is currently implementing infrastructural improvements all over the province. Projects to upgrade water and sanitation services are underway in all the five local municipalities in the Mopani district. "We are committed to providing all communities in the district with clean water and decent sanitation by 2010," said municipal spokesperson Tumelo Malaka early in April.

Housing is also of primary concern and construction will begin on the Bendor Integrated and Sustainable Human Settlement project in the suburb of Bendor in Polokwane in May. The project will be rolled out to other towns including Tubatse in the near future and aims to address the challenge of housing affordability by housing mixed-income earners together in an inclusionary housing environment. The project is part of an initiative aimed at reducing congested accommodation and eliminating informal settlements and will specifically target groups such as teachers, nurses and police officers.

Unsurprisingly, considering its strong community spirit, the whole area has bought into an anti-crime initiative driven by the Burgersfort Online web portal which also keeps residents updated on local news and events.

With employment flourishing and mine production running at peak levels, Burgersfort and Ohrigstad look set to weather the economic slowdown as well as the property slump.