Lying at the heart of the enormous cattle farming and beef producing district often referred to as the “Texas of SA”, the North West town of Vryburg is one of the country’s most important agricultural hubs – and has a surprisingly busy property market as a result.
In fact, the demand for property in Vryburg is such that it has prompted well-known local attorney and estate agency owner Hardus van der Westhuizen to “go big” and convert his Vryburg estate agency to the Chas Everitt International Property Group brand.
“The residential and agricultural property sectors in Vryburg are growing strongly at the moment, and we believe the time is right now to expand our real estate operation and join a group that will provide us with the most up-to-date technology, business systems and marketing platforms available, so that we can provide property buyers and sellers here with the best combination of local expertise and modern, absolutely professional service,” he says.
Situated halfway between Kimberley in the Northern Cape and Mafikeng, the capital of the North West province, Vryburg is thought of by many people as being “in the middle of nowhere”, but it is actually well-connected by road (the N14), rail and air to most parts of SA, as well as Namibia and Botswana.
It has its own airport and, van der Westhuizen points out, it even has its own Deeds Office to underline its importance as the commercial centre of a very large territory. It also has a private hospital, a new district hospital, several primary and secondary schools, a bustling business and shopping centre and good infrastructure. Several national and provincial government departments are also represented here, including Agriculture, Education, Health and Rural Development.
“There is no doubt that the town is growing, and that more business opportunities and jobs are being created, which is resulting in the increased housing demand,” he says. “In addition to the usual demand from farmers who need in-town accommodation and local residents who are upgrading or scaling down, an increasing number of people are relocating to Vryburg for work reasons, and investment buyers are also beginning to take an interest because the demand for Vryburg rental homes is also rising" vryburg-eiendom-agente.
Vryburg house prices in the town range from around R200 000 for a small flat all the way up to about R2m for a large, well-appointed family home, but the most popular purchases at the moment are townhouses and three-bedroom homes in the R600 000 to R1 million price range. Residential Vryburg property rentals, meanwhile, range from about R1500 a month to about R7000.
As for agricultural property, the mainstay of the local market, land prices in the area around Vryburg range from R4000 per hectare all the way up to about R15 000per hectare, depending on the type of farm and the extent of any buildings or other improvements. Cattle farms are obviously the most popular buys, van der Westhuizen says, but there is also increasing demand for land suitable for game farming, while irrigation farms and those suitable for maize and groundnut production are also sought-after.
Smallholdings and farms currently for sale in the area range in size from around 20 hectares to well over 4000 hectares, and are priced from around R1 million to about R25 million. There are also several commercial game lodges for sale at prices up to about R70 million.
FOR VRYBURG PROPERTY INFO CONTACT HARDUS VAN DER WESTHUIZEN
053 927 0900 | hardus.vdw@everitt.co.za