By Simpiwe Piliso

Stacked: Eventide, a new luxury block in Clifton for the very, very wealthy. Neighbouring bungalows in the sought-after seaside suburb go for many millions of rands.

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R60 million for a bungalow is the going rate when the super-rich go shopping

MILLIONAIRE or billionaire, if there is one thing money can’t buy, it’s the right address on the country’s most sought-after coastline.

The world’s jet setters, cash in hand, are increasingly battling to secure a piece of Cape Town’s ultra-exclusive suburb of Clifton.

A shortage of properties in the tiny basin along the Atlantic coastline has sent prices through the roof, with ordinary four-bedroom bungalows on sale for as much as R60 million.

Luxury apartments in the suburb currently fetch between R50 000/m² and R64 000/m² - more than the R36 000/m² at Johannesburg’s exclusive Michelangelo Towers.

As recently as December, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, the owner of UK football club Chelsea, toured the area, although estate agents this week would not confirm whether Clifton was on his shopping list.

There are only 664 addresses in Clifton, and only about 30 of these become available each year. Since 2001, a mere 115 homes have been sold in the suburb.

Deeds office records show that 45 sales in Clifton in the past two years amounted to R297 million.

Sotheby’s International Realty has declined to disclose whether Abramovich, said to be worth £10.8-billion, had left his mark at the local deeds office.

Director Rob Stefanutto said: “Abramovich was certainly in Cape Town over the festive season, it’s our policy not to discuss details of any of our clients.”

Seeff chairman Samuel Seeff said his agent, Renette Israeli, had been commissioned by a valued client to find a family home on Clifton’s Fourth Beach.

“Now, there are only six houses on this street overlooking the beach, and they never come up for sale. We were commissioned to source the impossible, with specific requirements.”

The requirements included easy access to the beach, off-street parking, mountain views and accommodation for a lively family.

Israeli said only an offer of over R30 million convinced the owner of a house that had not been on the market, to sell.

Once agents secure a potential home for a jet-set buyer, they ensure that they indulge the client’s every whim until the deal is signed and sealed.

A private viewing is arranged and the prospective buyer is collected from the airport.

Most would bring along an architect or interior decorator to advise them during the viewing. If there is the prospect of a sale, the client is taken out to lunch at one of the nearby exclusive restaurants.

Most of Stefanutto’s Clifton-bound US clients would first meet Alan Long, president of Sotheby’s International Realty in California.

Long said: “Although you won’t read about it in the media, many US and UK celebrities own property in Clifton already and secretly visit Cape Town on a regular basis.”

Long, who counts Brad Pitt and his ex-wife, Jennifer Aniston, among his clients in the US, jetted into Cape Town in June last year and spent three weeks scouting for properties on the Atlantic seaboard.

He refused to disclose who among his A-list celebrity clients had bought a home in Clifton.

In December, Dogon Group Properties CEO Denise Dogon closed a R42 million sale with a Hollywood producer.

She sold him a five-bedroom 1248m² villa on Nettleton Road; he was searching for a tranquil location in which to work on his next movie.

Dogon said her list of international high-net-worth clients had ballooned.

She has also taken several wealthy clients through a 107m² apartment on the market for a bargain R8 million, a home she was confident would be snapped up soon.

“ It’s becoming increasingly common for buyers to buy a bungalow [which can cost more than R20 million] just to demolish and rebuild their dream home.”

Seeff’s Atlantic seaboard branch sold a R28 million, three-bedroom apartment last year, and a bungalow for R31 million.

Managing director Ian Slot said the fact that some of these properties were snapped up by South Africans was “definitely a sign of the performance of SA’s economy, and the confidence that South Africans have in our future”.

A local buyer interested in taking out a mortgage to buy a R15.9 million home in Clifton would have to fork out a R1.5 million deposit and earn a monthly salary of R543 643 to cover the bond repayments of R163 093 over 20 years.

For those who can’t afford to own even a small patch of real estate in Clifton, there is always the rental market - with daily rentals of between R4 000 and R21 000.

Sunday Times