“Transactions are up 20 percent from their 2009 low point – but price growth remains more or less static – and there are no fundamentals on the radar screen that suggest conditions will change much before the end of 2010.”

That is how Dr Andrew Golding, CE of Pam Golding Properties, sums up the overall state of the residential property market in Gauteng.

“In line with the rest of the country, the Gauteng market is emerging from a recession-induced inertia that saw sales volumes drop by as much as 50 percent, and prices by a relatively moderate seven percent to 10 percent, over the past two years.

"However, there are patches of opportunity in the market – not least in the traditionally higher-priced areas of the northern suburbs of Johannesburg, and in the equally upmarket areas in the east of Pretoria, which continue to attract buyer attention because of their aspirational qualities," says Dr Golding.

Now that the Gautrain can be seen as it makes its intermittent ‘dry runs’, residential developments in the vicinity of route stations – in areas such as Rosebank, Sandton, Marlboro, Midrand, Centurion, Hatfield (Pretoria), and Kempton Park – are also attracting attention.

“These areas are likely to continue to appreciate at greater than the market average because they will offer the end user a combination of convenience and contemporary living,” says Dr Golding.

Another market segment that is holding up well in Gauteng is walled, gated estates, where the decline in home sales prices has been less pronounced; where the gap in supply and demand is distinctly narrower than average; and where the rate of distressed sales has been comparatively low.

“The reason for this can be summed up in one word – security. Homes in these estates are generally priced at a premium because of the safe freedom of movement that they offer,” says Dr Golding.

“As sellers begin to appreciate that there is little prospect of significant price growth this year, more and more homes will find their way onto the market – presenting opportunities for buyers that may not be repeated for some time to come,” he concludes.