The country’s economic hub, Gauteng, is losing its appeal as a place to live, with homeowners packing up and moving at the fastest rate in seven years to smaller towns and coastal areas in search of a safer and quieter life.
For some, rising crime levels have driven them out of the province. Adding to this is that living in the country’s economic hub comes with its challenges: life happens at a faster pace and for those who did not grow up in the area it is hard to make real connections and feel at home.
Semigration — moving either from one province to another or to other cities or towns within the same province — is not new in the residential market. In recent years, and before Covid-19, this trend has been characterised by a move from inland to the coast with certain areas becoming more attractive as a result, say estate agents.
Many semigrants have families in other areas and often move to be closer to them. For those with children, good schools, an outdoor lifestyle, greater security and a better quality of life are top considerations when relocating, says Andrew Golding, CEO of Pam Golding Properties.
“Often the breadwinner will commute back to Johannesburg or the relevant city during the week. For those opting to relocate to the KwaZulu-Natal north or south coast the commute is much easier than from Cape Town,” he says.
Craig Mott, regional sales manager for Rawson Properties, expects semigration to remain strong in 2022 thanks to flexible working, a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Remote working has enabled professionals to move and purchase property elsewhere, and we have noticed an increasing trend of buyers ditching city conveniences in favour of small-town living,” says Mott.
Better-run municipalities
According to Lightstone data, of the country’s semigrants Gauteng accounted for 43%, up from 39% in 2019 and 2020. Second to Gauteng is KwaZulu-Natal with 13%. People want to move away from “crime and grime” and towards a slower, safer, quality lifestyle in the small to large towns, notes Lightstone.
The majority of properties sold were freehold homes (42%), with estate and sectional title properties accounting for 29% each. Lightstone data showed that the highest sales (35%) were recorded for properties priced between R1.5m and R3.5m, followed by 21% for properties priced below R1m, with properties ranging between R3.5m-R5.5m recording 15% of total sales.
Properties worth more than R5.5m and those priced between R3.5m and R5.5m each accounted for 14% of total sales in 2021, according to Lightstone.
Of those moving from Gauteng, the Western Cape is the destination of choice as semigrants perceive the province to have better-run municipalities compared with other parts of the country. The Eastern Cape has seen a notable increase in semigrants and KwaZulu-Natal saw a drop to 13% in 2021 from 14% in 2015.
Digital marketing agency owner and semigrant Sheena Kretzmer says crime was the main reason her family moved back to their home province of KwaZulu-Natal in December 2019. She told Business Day she and her team had the flexibility to work remotely, which further motivated the move.
Crime stats from 2020 showed that SA is a violent country, with a high rate of murder, assault, rape and robbery. Between July and September, 2,000 kidnappings were reported, mainly in Gauteng.
“My husband was going to look for a job in 2020 once we’d moved out. Instead of resigning, his employer said he could work independently from their Umhlanga office, and shortly after Covid-19 the entire company worked remotely as has the rest of the world,” she said.
Criminal target
Once the decision was made, Kretzmer and her husband sold their property within six weeks and moved to a coastal area north of Durban.
She says life for her family of four had been bliss in their home north of Johannesburg until the area became a target for criminals almost overnight.
Like most homeowners, they had state-of-the-art security, were always cautious, keeping doors and cars locked. However, her involvement in the neighbourhood WhatsApp chat and crime groups made them more aware of the daily criminal activity in the area and the threat they were living under.
“This was taking a toll on our mental health, and it took a bullet missing my husband by inches for us to make a decision to move out of Johannesburg and back home to KwaZulu-Natal,” she says.
The gunshot in question was a misfire by security guards while investigating when their alarm system went off.
“We sold everything in our cosy Johannesburg home with the idea that we would invest the capital and rent for a year in Durban until we were comfortable and confident on where to repurchase.”
As it turned out, the family saw first-hand the flexibility of renting, cost and commitment levels are lower and in the current economy, the couple is not in a hurry to buy again.
By the second quarter of 2021, house price inflation in Gauteng had reached 4.74% (from 4.6% in the first quarter) against the 5.89% national average during the same period.
This is a far cry from a high of 5.63% in the first quarter of 2015, although this was still below the national average of 6.19% — also the highest growth recorded then. Gauteng price rises have hovered below 2% in 2019, and only improved to just over 4% in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to Lightstone.
Attracts entrepreneurs
Mott says the KwaZulu-Natal north coast is a popular semigration destination, boasting proximity to two of the busiest ports in Africa with easy access to King Shaka International Airport.
“This area attracts entrepreneurs who are making the most of the excellent value for money and quality of life on offer, paired with abundant business opportunities,” says Mott.
Buyers look for spacious family-friendly homes that can also accommodate a good-sized office space, mostly located in secure estates with freehold homes sought after.
According to Lightstone, estates and sectional title properties on the north coast are in demand as homeowners want a sense of community, and the benefits of “lock-up and go” convenience.
In 2021, KwaZulu-Natal had the record high sale of R22m for a luxury home in Simbithi Estate, which was sold to a Johannesburg buyer, says Golding.
Kretzmer admits that they did not expect property prices on the north coast to be higher on a like-for-like basis with Johannesburg. “We had to quickly reassess our budget, and that played a huge role in deciding to rent for the foreseeable future.”
She added that it took a while to adjust to their new home but are pleased with their decision. “Now that we are settled, we can leave our doors wide open to watch the children play, feeling completely safe.”
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, which restricted movement, experts estimated that an average of 30,000 South Africans left the country for good each year, according to a Daily Maverick article published in October 2019. This number significantly declined due to pandemic travel restrictions.
FNB reported in July 2019 that emigration-driven sales had become a more prominent feature of the housing market in SA over the past two years, with emigration accounting for 13% of total selling during the second quarter of 2019.
This trend was more prevalent in the high end of the market, accounting for 17% compared with 10% in the lower end, according to the FNB Property Barometer in July 2019.
By the third quarter of 2021, the total emigration figure had come down to 8% of all total sales, possibly due to closed borders and restrictions on travel.
However, figures remained in double digits for those selling properties ranging between R2.6m-R3.6m (13%), with 14% recorded for those selling properties priced above R3.6m. Only 3% of those selling properties priced below R750,000 sold in order to emigrate, according to FNB’s latest barometer in October 2021.
Update: January 17 2022
This story has been updated to clarify that Gauteng accounted for 43% of SA people semigrating, rather than saying 43% of Gauteng residents had left the province. The article has also been updated throughout with additional information.
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