New South African semigration hotspot with its own airport

Property experts have noted that George in the Western Cape is seeing massive demand for property from affluent buyers and is now among the top five most popular towns for semigrants.

Several experts have noted that semigration in South Africa—citizens moving from one province to another—is still a significant trend within the property sector.

Data shows that provinces like the Western Cape and Gauteng are the main drivers of this trend, attracting the lion’s share of prospective property buyers across the country.

A 2024 Lightstone Property report reveals that 1 in 4 homeowners selling and buying a new home move to another province. Gauteng and Western Cape dominate, comprising 48% and 23% of the market, respectively.

However, despite Cape Town being regarded as the Western Cape’s crown jewel, CEO of the ooba Group Rhys Dyer noted that the semigration frenzy to cities like Cape Town is expected to taper off.

The ooba CEO said, “Rising costs, congestion and challenges like long school waiting lists largely drive Cape Town’s downward trend.”

However, he added that a high concentration of high-value activity is taking place in sought-after coastal towns in the Western Cape, like George.

“Knysna and other smaller, more affordable coastal towns like George are on a sharp upward trajectory that is set to gain momentum in 2025,” said Dyer.

The George Municipality is the second largest municipality in population in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. It is situated in the Garden Route District of the province.

The municipality serves 294,929 people from 85,931 households. George has considerable natural assets and beauty, including expansive mountains and forests, wilderness areas, a varied coastline, extensive lakes, rivers and estuaries.

The town’s ideal location between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth is known for its good climate, low crime rate, and good schools, which are drawing massive demand from affluent buyers.

Experts also highlight that George’s own national airport is among the many reasons the town has seen significant growth over the past two decades.

This has positioned George as a sought-after tourism, lifestyle, business, and investment destination for both local and international buyers.

George Regional Airport serves the Southern Cape and Little Karoo, including the neighbouring towns of Mossel Bay, Oudtshoorn, Knysna and Plettenberg Bay.

According to the Airports Company of South Africa, George Airport now welcomes over 800,000 passengers each year.

Delving into the surge in demand for coastal properties and smaller towns like George, Seeff Property Group and others have noted that affluent buyers and retirees are major contributors to the demand.

Seff highlighted that prices in these areas now range from R1.5 million for sectional titles to over R10 million in estates, depending on the region.

For George, correctly priced property below R2.5 million still sells quite quickly, often within days of listing it.

Estates are popular, with some now priced upwards of R5 million. Seeff said that popular alternatives include Blue Mountain Village, priced from R3 million, and Kraaibosch, from R4 million.

According to Lightstone data, the Western Cape has fourteen of the top fifteen towns with net gains in homeowners in 2024.

While Cape Town leads the list, with over 1,500 homeowners moving to the city, smaller towns are rapidly gaining on the Mother City.

Milnerton and Mossel Bay are just behind Cape Town, with net inflows of 1,249 and 651, respectively. George and Somerset West round out the top five, with net inflows of 526 and 497 semigrants, respectively.

Seff said that local service delivery has become a huge deciding factor for property buyers and investors.

“We can see this very clearly in the semigration patterns to areas with good service delivery and security, the Western Cape, for example, but also some other inland areas, such as George,” said Seeff.

A New World Wealth Report also highlighted that there’s been a remarkable 25% increase in high-net-worth individuals who have migrated to Cape Town. However, George is second, with a rise of 22%.

George, South Africa