While many are putting building plans on hold in the face of increasing costs (inflation and borrowing rates), building projects are booming in the Western Cape. Plans involving almost R35bn were passed between January and November last year. While ...
The number of approved building plans in the Western Cape is up by as much as 27%, according to the latestreleased by Statistics South Africa on 20 January.
Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal were the only other provinces to record an increase in the value of buildings completed over the last year, with total values of R19-billion and R9-billion respectively.Western Cape Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, Mireille Wenger, points out that approved building plans are a leading economic indicator of confidence in the economy.
According to the Quarterly Labour Force survey released at the end of November by Stats SA, 85,000 jobs were created in the Western Cape in the third quarter of last year. “In 2022, the real GDP lost to the Western Cape was estimated at R8.2-billion. These figures are expected to grow significantly if the country is subjected to record high levels of load shedding in 2023, which, at this stage, appears likely,” he says, adding that the impact on the agricultural sector in the Western Cape is of particular concern.
The electricity bill of an average Ceres farm is around R400,000 a month, climbing to more than R1-million at Stage 2 load shedding if the farmer resorts to using diesel to generate electricity.The increase in building plans and job creation ties into a trend towards “semigration” – where moreThe demand for residential property in Cape Town continues unabated, says Basil Moraitis, regional manager for Pam Golding Properties in the province.
Moraitis says activity is brisk among high-end buyers of luxury homes in the price bracket north of R20-million, with a recent sale of a sumptuous five-bedroom home in Bantry Bay achieving the full asking price of R75-million from a German buyer.
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