They say a number of economic factors will support Port Elizabeth in future, including the Coega harbour project.
First National Bank property strategist John Loos says residential property prices have risen 355% in the Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage areas over the past 10 years, according to Absa statistics.
Loos says this was slightly higher than the national average of 341%.
But in recent times the Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage property markets have not fared as well as the national property market, with Absa reporting year-on-year house-price growth of only 4,3% for the fourth quarter of last year compared with the national average of 15,7%.
Loos says increases in Port Elizabeth industrial property rentals had been slower than those in other major metropolitan areas.
Property economists Rode & Associates put prime industrial rental growth for Port Elizabeth properties of 500m² at 6,8% year on year in the third quarter of last year while growth in the three major cities was 7,6%-30%.
"It would seem as if Port Elizabeth's property market is off the boil at the moment, but I still believe it is going to boom given economic factors."
Loos says economic drivers favour Port Elizabeth for the simple reason that infrastructures in Cape Town, Durban and Gauteng are coming under increasing pressure.
"If one looks at the harbour capacity of Cape Town and Durban, both have been experiencing capacity problems. That spare capacity being created by Coega could prove very useful in an increasingly rapidly growing economy."
He says Port Elizabeth also has far more spare capacity on its roads.
Loos says Port Elizabeth is also becoming attractive as a holiday destination as the KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape coasts have become expensive and crowded.
"Economic factors in the other three metros will play into Port Elizabeth's hands in the coming years," says Loos.
Business Day
Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge
