The luxury property market in Cape Town is headed for a record-breaking year with foreigners, especially retirees, buying property in many upmarket areas., sales to foreign buyers amounted to almost R800 million in the first quarter. Most of these sales took place in the Atlantic Seaboard, the Cape Town City Bowl suburbs, and the Southern Suburbs.
A main pulling factor is the exchange rate between the rand and other major currencies like the dollar. Coming to South Africa with a strong currency like the euro, for example, enable foreigners to have a better lifestyle and cheaper cost of living than they would have in their own country. These two factors in particular attract international buyers from the UAE, UK, Europe, and other African countries.
Another noteworthy reason for foreigners buying property in South Africa is to escape the European winter. Many foreign buyers, especially in the Somerset West area, tend to stay in South Africa for between three and six months a year during the cold months in Europe.