Demand for sectional title properties in the southern suburbs of Cape Town is on the increase as affluent parents of University of Cape Town students buy up "anything under a million" to house their children during semester time, says Robert Phillips of Sotheby's International Realty Rondebosch.

He says the University of Cape Town has 20,000 students, with 5,000 beds in residences and 15,000 students in need of accommodation.

He says a third of these are more than likely from Cape Town so there is a constant 10,000 students requiring accommodation.

"Due to this great demand, sectional title property prices have increased between 40% and 50% in the past year. We sold a one-bedroom apartment in Rondebosch for R420,000 in March 2004. We resold it in January this year for R640,000," says Phillips.

He says sectional title properties are specifically in demand as they are a relatively easy "in" into the property market with a good return.

Business Day

Publisher: Business Day
Source: Inet Bridge