Foreigners flocking to buy property in this tiny seaside village in South Africa

This is according to the latest property data from Lightstone Property, which was released in May 2025. 

The data noted that the Western Cape is the preferred destination for foreign property buyers in South Africa. 

Scarborough is a seaside town in Cape Town on the Cape Peninsula in the Western Cape province of South Africa. 

It is situated at the edge of the Cape Point Nature Reserve. The town’s boundary includes Scarborough Beach, which is popular with surfers.

This town was designated as a conservation village in April 1996, defined as “a residential area of limited extent, surrounded by a conserved natural landscape, committed to reverse past environmental damage and to avoid future environmental impacts”

According to Lightstone’s data, this small village saw the highest proportion of foreign property buyers in 2024.

Last year, Hayley Ivins-Downes, Managing Executive Real Estate Cluster at Lightstone, highlighted the growing interest in coastal towns, especially Scarborough.

He highlighted then that Noordhoek and Scarborough, just north of the Cape Point peninsula, recorded the highest average sales prices in the Western Cape after 2023.

This trend has continued. Data from Property24 and the Deeds Office show that the average price of a property in Scarborough has rocketed. 

According to the data, the average price sold in the small seaside town has increased from R2.30 million in 2016 to R7.85 million as of 2025—a 241% increase. 

Lightstone further highlighted that Scarborough isn’t the only suburb seeing an influx of foreign buyers. 

Lightstone pointed out that all the top 22 suburbs with the highest proportion of foreign buyers are in the Western Cape.

The data showed that Scarborough is followed by Chapmans Peak, Bakoven, De Waterkant, and Cape Town Centre. 

The Western Cape is the number one destination for foreign buyers

Lightstone’s data and Ivins-Downes have noted that the number of foreign property buyers in South Africa is rising, and the Western Cape is their preferred destination. 

Foreigners who do not have residency in South Africa pay more, on average, for their properties than foreigners who do have residency, and both categories pay more, on average, than local buyers.

Lightstone’s analysis revealed that the residential market’s combined foreign share has increased marginally since 2019. 

Lightstone analysis is limited to residential properties bought by natural persons with only one property per title deed. 

The analysis also distinguished between foreign buyers in South Africa with SA residency and those without.

“Over the past six years, we’ve seen a growing gap between what local buyers pay for property compared to foreign buyers.

The data shows that in 2024, non-resident foreigners paid an average of just over R2.7 million, more than double the R1.2 million average paid by local purchasers,” said Ivins-Downes.

Foreigners without residency who bought property in 2023 outnumbered foreign buyers with residency, a pattern which continued in 2024.

The proportion of foreign buyers with residency has slipped from 3.8% in 2019 to 3.3% in 2024, while the proportion of foreign buyers without residency has increased from 2.9% to 3.7%. 

The data also highlighted that house sales to locals have drifted back marginally, from 93.3% to 93%.

The data showed that the Western Cape is the preferred destination for foreign buyers, leading the way in the three price bands analysed.

They accounted for just over 40% of transactions above R10 million, around 25% between R5 million and R10 million, and around 15% between R3 million and R5 million.

The key takeaway is that the higher the property’s value, the greater the percentage of foreign buyers. In 2024, foreign buyers made up 40% of all purchases above R10 million.

“While foreign buyers remain a small segment of the market, their influence is clear in the high-end property space, especially in the Western Cape,” said  Ivins-Downes.

“As global interest in lifestyle and investment properties grows, this trend will likely continue in key coastal areas.”

Scarborough, Western Cape.

Issued on BusinessTech by Malcolm Libera | https://businesstech.co.za/news/property/824975/foreigners-flocking-to-buy-property-in-this-tiny-seaside-village-in-south-africa/