Top Trend: The Search for Walkability

Walkability – or the ability to get around without a car – is the current “big thing” in residential real estate, and can substantially increase property values in areas that offer residents shops, restaurants, schools, parks and public transport within comfortable walking distance of their homes.

A recent study of almost 90 000 homes in the US, for example, showed that “walkability” could increase value by as much as US$3000. And in SA one only has to look at the effect that the Gautrain has had on property values in the areas closest to the stations, which have all also sprouted new shops, offices and recreational facilities in the past six years and are in high demand because they now offer residents a significant degree of walkability.
    
In bustling Rosebank, for instance, the average price of apartments has risen by a whopping 200% since the advent of the Gautrain in 2010, while prices in the surrounding suburbs have increased by between 14% and 50%.
    
Meanwhile in Pretoria’s trendy suburb of Hatfield, the price of flats close to the Gautrain terminus has risen by an average of 33% since 2010, compared to an average rise of around 12% in the neighbouring suburb of Arcadia.
    
At the other end of the line in Johannesburg, flats close to the Gautrain terminus at Park Station and its surrounding office, retail, and recreational amenities have achieved an average price growth of 59% since 2010, while prices in the neighbouring suburbs have risen by an average of just under 30%.
    
So the message is clear in SA as well as other parts of the world: Many modern homebuyers want to leave the car in the garage most of the time – or even live without a car – and are prepared to pay a premium to do so.

Of course this trend is being boosted by unstable fuel prices and an aversion to commuting by car as increasing urbanisation causes ever more traffic congestion, but it is also being driven by demographics, with the two biggest groups of homebuyers (the baby-boomers and the millennials) both preferring a strong sense of community to the isolation of the traditional suburbs.
    
This does not mean, however, that everyone is moving to the inner cities. Any area that has walking-distance amenities is likely to attract more buyers now than those that do not – as evidenced by the popularity of those lifestyle estates and retirement villages where residents can walk to their own schools, shops, offices, restaurants, sports and health facilities inside the secure perimeter.
    
It does mean, however, that home sellers should be thinking about how to emphasise their home’s convenience, if it does in fact offer easy pedestrian access to amenities. In addition to taking about security and the good schools in their area, they may now want to provide information about how easy and safe it is to walk to their local park, supermarket, coffee shop, gym, or pharmacy, and what public transport links are available.