Plettenberg Bay is experiencing unequalled growth in both the residential as well as the business property markets. A large selection of developments are on offer along the coast with golf courses, beaches and rivers featuring in new developments like Goose Valley, Schoongezicht, Sanderlings, Brackenridge, Whale Rock, Twin Rivers, to name only a few.

Plett is considered as the Riviera of South Africa with both the rich and famous of South Africa and international buyers investing in top properties along its magnificent beaches. It is one of the most sought after and therefore most expensive holiday destinations in South Africa with the result that prices are also rising the fastest and it is rapidly becoming valued in dollars and being compared with similar properties along the Mediterranean.

The Plettenberg Bay property market has been transformed from a holiday home to leisure investment market as property is presently seen here as a better and also a more enjoyable investment for the whole family. The Plett property market does not follow the general South African market trends and rising interest rates this year have actually accelerated interest from those investors looking for the last bargain in Plett! It is estimated that 30% of all sales go to investors speculating, often selling the same property only a few months later for a substantial profit!

Seeff: Knysna and Plett participated in a series of international home shows in the United Kingdom during the second half of 2002. They were stunned by the interest shown in South African coastal real estate among British citizens, both as a lifestyle investment as well as for retirement. The value of the Pound against the SA Rand is one of the major attractions along with the investment potential coupled with our climate, nature, sporting facilities, etc. South Africans living abroad are another sector of buyers of holiday property in Plettenberg Bay and Knysna - 30% of interest in buying property along the Garden Route amongst United Kingdom investors comes from South Africans living and working abroad.

Plett has seen more than 440 new residential building plans approved over the past year with an estimated building cost of R136 million - an increase of 18% and R33 million on the previous year. There are only a limited number of stands/plots left in Plett and with the demand being much higher than the supply prices have neither ceiling nor time limit to increase in value dramatically.

The newly opened Market Square shopping complex added a further R60 million development which included a very welcome large new parking facility, while in the CBD a further R11 million will be added to local property development, in the form of even more additional parking. The Market Square offers 67 shops comprising grocery, leisure, fashion, medical, IT, furniture and entertainement and has been designed to service a wide range of customers, from locals to residents of the surrounding areas of Knysna, Storms River, the Craggs and Natures Valley.

This sleeping holiday town of yesteryear has become South Africa's top coastal property investment destination and with the influx of people and new developments, since November now boasts its first and only traffic light in town. Progress?