The Eastern Cape is driving demand for South African property, according to TheMoveChannel.com´s latest research. The portal´s At a Glance infographic, which depicts activity on the site in 2013, shows that the Eastern Cape accounted for three quarters of enquiries into the country´s real estate.

The Eastern Cape received 74.1 per cent of enquiries into South African property between January and December 2013. The Western Cape was the second most popular area, accounting for one in five (19.3 per cent) of activity.

Despite that, buyers searching for South African property tended to look at the Western Cape first, with the region accounting for half of the top 10 most-searched destinations in the country. Cape Town was the second most sought-after location, featuring in one in 10 searches, behind only Johannesburg, which attracted 12 per cent of searches. The Gauteng province accounted for two out of the top 10 most-searched cities, including Pretoria. KwaZulu-Natal accounted for the same number, with Durban the subject of 8.5 per cent of searches.

The Eastern Cape, on the other hand, was home to just one of the top 10 most-searched places: Port Elizabeth. The popular tourist hotspot, though, located on the Garden Route, held enough appeal to convert searches into enquiries. Indeed, overseas buyers of South African property were primarily interested in coastal areas: provinces further inland, such as the Free State, North West, Northern Cape and Limpopo received no enquiries at all

The At a Glance infographic also charts search activity on Google related to buying South African real estate. Buyers tended to search for “property in South Africa” in general, while “houses for sale in South Africa” were the most popular type of property, followed by “land for sale in South Africa”.

Searches for the country´s real estate peaked in the third quarter of 2013. This trend is backed up by TheMoveChannel.com, where enquiries into South African property peaked in September, driven by an off-plan opportunity to invest in a resort in the Eastern Cape.

Editor Ivan Radford comments:

“South Africa´s real estate enjoyed a stronger 2013 than previous years, with demand increasing in the third quarter. But the At a Glance infographic confirms the emerging nature of the market, with the majority of interest directed towards tourist-friendly areas, such as Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, and many provinces receiving no attention. Buyers attracted to the area´s Mediterranean climate searched mostly for property in the Western Cape. The Garden Route´s mild temperatures, though, as well as September´s attractive off-plan listing, saw the majority of buyers hunt for real estate in the Eastern Cape instead. While properties near the coast tended to perform well, the country´s most popular listings in 2013 covered a wide range of off-plan developments, houses and even alternative assets, which indicates a variety of investors and buyers in the market – a positive indicator for the future.”

Click here to see the full infographic.

Founded in 1999, TheMoveChannel.com is the leading independent website for international property, with than 400,000 listings in over 100 countries around the world, marketed on behalf of agents, developers and private owners.

TheMoveChannel.com is operated by lead generation company Lead Galaxy, which powers the largest online network of overseas property portals.

The website address is http://www.themovechannel.com and the office address is 24 Jack´s Place, Corbet Place, Spitalfields, London, E1 6NN. The website address of Lead Galaxy is http://www.leadgalaxy.com

Contact Dan Johnson on 0207 952 7650 for further information.