Sales of super-prime homes dropped to their lowest annual level in three years in the 12 months to March 2024, according to global property firm Knight Frank’s latest snapshot of the luxury property market.
In the 12 months leading up to the end of March 2024, there were 1,618 super-prime sales. This is the lowest annual total in three years, and, according to the Global Super Prime Intelligence, Q1 2024 report, reflects a stabilising in the market after the highs of 2021/2.
A total of 426 $10million+ sales took place in the first three months of 2024 across the 11 markets tracked. While this was up from 365 sales in the previous quarter, it was 11.6% down from the 482 sales in Q1 2023.
The annual total for super-prime sales seems to have settled in the 1,600 to 1,700 range over the past two years. This is down from the post-COVID high experienced in 2021 and 2022, but is notably above the pre-Covid total.
While the count of sales was down, the total value of super-prime sales totalled US$8.0 billion in first quarter of the year which was the strongest result
since Q2 2023.
On an annual basis the US$30.5 billion sales in our 11 markets in year to end of March was down 2.6% from the US$31.3 billion in the 12-month period to Q4 2023.
Once again Dubai leads the ranking of super-prime sales, with 105 sales, compared to second and third placed New York and Palm Beach – with 56 and 47 sales respectively. "Dubai’s total was very strong compared to other cities, but marked the first quarterly decline in sales in the Emirate since we started our survey in 2019," Knight Frank said.
It said that US markets performed relatively well, with New York supplanting London in second place on our ranking, after lagging over the previous two quarters. "The total for Palm Beach
was a very strong showing and the first time this market has been in third place in our survey."
While the London super-prime market has been facing headwinds from the upcoming UK general election – prompting uncertainty around the existing non-domiciled taxation regime – sales in Q1 dipped in the city, although it remains the second biggest global super-prime market on an annual basis, 15% ahead of New York in terms of sales in the 12-months to March this year.
In Asia Hong Kong is the biggest market, with 132 sales in the 12-months to March compared to Singapore’s 88.
South Africa
Luxury homes are back in demand in South Africa, particularly in the Western Cape. Cape Town continues to draw high net-worth buyers to the city’s property market, with local buyers, semigrants and international investors prepared to pay R20 million-plus for homes in the city.
Some of the highest prices paid in Cape Town over the 18-months ended October 2023, ranging from R20 million to R72 million were for luxury sectional title apartments, especially on the Atlantic Seaboard.
Sales data showed a total of 156 sectional title properties sold above R10 million to the combined value of R2.8 billion over the period. Almost one third of those sales achieved prices ranging from R20 million to a highest price of R72 million for a Bantry Bay apartment sold by the Seeff Property Group.
R20 million-plus prices are no longer confined to the “big five” Atlantic Seaboard suburbs (Clifton, Camps Bay, Bantry Bay, Fresnaye and Waterfront), as Ross Levin, licensee for Seeff Atlantic Seaboard says top end unit prices have lifted over the last two years in areas such as Sea Point, Mouille Point and Green Point.
While the high value sectional title buyers were mostly local Capetonians, Propstats data showed that buyers from Johannesburg paid as much as R20 million in Green Point, R22.5 million in Sea Point, R23 million at Waterfront and R31 million in Clifton.
A KZN buyer paid R47 million in Clifton. Foreign buyers from the USA, Germany, UK, Finland, Switzerland and Austria also invested in R20 million-plus sectional title units in Cape Town.
Seeff concluded several of the highest value sectional title sales including in Mouille Point at R20 million in Mouille Sands, R21.7 million in Aquarius and R24 million in Biscay. Also, at the Waterfront, sales of R28.95 million and R37.5 million in Palgrave and R29 million and R30 million in Pembroke.
And more properties were sold above R20 million in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, with more buyers prepared to pay R20 million for a luxury home in surrounding areas such as Stellenbosch, Langebaan and Hermanus.
Data from Propstats showed that for the first quarter of this year some 31 sales worth just under R890m million were concluded in Cape Town, up from 26 sales during the same period in 2023.
Based on sales, the most expensive complexes on the Atlantic Seaboard are in Bantry Bay and include the Aurum Presidential (R180,000/sqm), Conway Court (R122,000/sqm), Bantry Place (R100,000/sqm), Toscana (R80,000/sqm) and The Estate in Sea Point (R90,000/sqm).
Across almost all areas the demand has been boosted by an influx of second home and semigration buyers as well as investment by foreign buyers.
For ultra-high-net-worth buyers, particularly global players who seek the ultimate quality of life combined with a prime, highly desirable location, price tags of R100 million+ are no deterrent when it comes to seeking that sought-after, iconic residence that meets all their lifestyle requirements, noted Pam Golding Properties.
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