{"id":658003,"date":"2023-01-22T15:00:25","date_gmt":"2023-01-22T13:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=658003"},"modified":"2023-01-20T15:55:04","modified_gmt":"2023-01-20T13:55:04","slug":"expats-moving-back-to-south-africa-buying-multi-million-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/property\/658003\/expats-moving-back-to-south-africa-buying-multi-million-homes\/","title":{"rendered":"Expats are moving back to South Africa – and buying multi-million rand homes"},"content":{"rendered":"

On top of a new wave of foreign buyers from Europe picking up multi-million rand houses in the Western Cape, property specialists are also counting a number of ex-pats who lived abroad for several years now returning to South Africa.<\/p>\n

According to Stephan Thomas and David Burger, secure estate specialists for Lew Geffen Sotheby\u2019s International Realty in Constantiaberg, Cape Town, the group has seen a marked rise in high-value property sales in regions of the Western Cape.<\/p>\n

“Constantiaberg has always been a popular destination for foreign buyers who are attracted by the lifestyle, climate and host of world-class amenities, but during the past two years, there has been a surge in enquiries, especially in the estate market,” the group said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe first noticed an increase in enquiries from foreign investors after the Brexit vote and then again once pandemic restrictions had eased and the war in Ukraine had begun,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

The realty group noted that most of its sales before 2020\/21 pandemic were to so-called ‘swallows’ – people who bought in the area to escape the European winters. However, remote work – which has seen a massive increase over the last two years – has now also allowed foreigners to work from Cape Town while retaining their European jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cSotheby\u2019s International Realty research has shown that at least 40% of the global workforce is now \u2018location independent\u2019 and we, therefore, expect current buying trends to continue if not grow,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are also ex-pats who have lived abroad for several years where they married and had children and are now returning to South Africa with their families for lifestyle reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lew Geffen Sotheby’s reported that most of these buyers are looking for properties between R10 million to R30 million<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The most popular luxury estates include:<\/p>\n