What is Durban all about when we look at the property market there and the residential areas?
Durban's a beautiful, old area. You've got kind of old architecture, old homes. Many of the houses actually up on the ridge are heritage homes, so they're protected, and they've got this lovely sense of character. Interestingly, most of them in the warm, hot, humid climate of Durban have got fireplaces [chuckles]. It's like this throwback to some European.
But very diverse place, very energetic, interesting place. You've got restaurants and curry houses, and you know this is a vibe that Durban has.
Yeah, and unbelievable night life. We look at Florida Road, places like that. One thing that has amazed me-- because I get a lot of snapshots going there where I get to see developments kind of starting and then being finished. And there are a lot of new developments there. Talk to me about the property market itself. How do we go about that? How do we approach that market? Is it a buyer's, is it a seller's? What's the property market like?
I think the most exciting thing about Durban is how affordable the property market is. You know you look at a lot of great areas in South Africa, and I'd classify Durban certainly as a great area in terms of lifestyle. But in terms of the value for money which you get into Durban is tough to beat anywhere in the country. So an average home is around 850,000 for a two bedroom apartment. To put that into perspective, the repayments on a place like that are only about 7 to 8,000 a rent a month. So that and the average rentals in Durban are about 7,000 rent a month. So it actually pays to own your own place in Durban, which is pretty cool. There are not a lot of places like that in South Africa where the rentals and the cost of ownership are about the same. Good for investors and also good for people looking to buy and own their house.
I was going to say, great for first time buyers while you were really do wanted treated as an investment. So who lives there? Who lives in Durban? I suppose we've got the cliched image of our durbanites in there. We're seeing a lot more business being done down in Durban. You're self a pilot to effect that companies are moving at least satellite stations down there, or having a presence down there. Who would my neighbour be in Durbs?
Obviously the beach is a big thing in Durban. We've got this unbelievable surfer lifestyle. The promenade.
You can actually swim in the water [chuckles].
Yeah [chuckles]. The promenade that was developed around the World Cup now stretches all the way from the harbour entrance, all the way up to Blue Lagoon. So it's miles and miles of beautiful pristine beach front. Guys are cycling there on the weekends, walking their dogs, going for a surf, going for a swim. That really has energized the market in Durban itself. But there are a lot of other things that make Durban special, and I think that's what drives the property market, and perhaps defines the type of people that live there. Some of the best schools in all of [KwaZulu?] are located right on the ridge there in Durban, so a lot of family-orientated people live there. We profiled one such guy, Brandon Rubinke, ex-Lifesaver, international long-boarding champion. He's obviously in love with the beach. But now he's got a young family lives up there on the ridge, they've got a school just down the road. And that's the type of scene you see a lot in Durban. Young families want to enjoy the life style but also tap into great schooling and the convenience of access. You've got Westfield just up the road or Umhlanga just a little bit further. So very central.
I have to reiterate. I love running at night and I went out for a late night run along that promenade, but quite close to the harbour there was a young lady running at about 10:00 in the evening. They're completely safe. They really have kind of gone out of their way to create that kind of family vibe. If you could pick one suburb to living in in Durbs?
You know Morningside is beautiful, because you kind of perched up at the top of that bowl and you get to look out over the stadium, over the beautiful ocean, and that's a very pretty leafy suburb. I would love to live in Morningside.
Thank you so much for giving us your insights today. One last tip to leave us with considering Durbs?
Durban is all about the lifestyle, but the great tip is that is a super affordable property market. So if you're looking to get in, as you said, as a first time buyer or as an investor it certainly makes a lot of sense.

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