Those of us that drive the N1 through the north of Johannesburg pass Paulshof on a regular basis. The suburb stretches from Main Road in the west to Rivonia Road in the east between Lonehill and Sunninghill.
Although there are still some of the smallholdings left that used to be the mainstay of Paulshof, the suburb is dominated today by sectional title developments. There are a number of freehold properties as well as commercial developments in the area but with 87 percent of the properties in sectional title or estate developments, it is these two that provide the vast majority of properties in the area. That said, the number of properties in the area (over 4 000) means that even the small percentage of freehold properties is larger than the total number of properties found in many other suburbs.
Prices in Paulshof tend towards the higher end of their respective categories with sectional title properties averaging just over R800 000 over the past 12 months, estate properties averaging just under R1.4 million and freehold properties averaging almost R1.9 million over the past year. This actually creates a nice segregation of properties in the suburb allowing people to move within the suburb as their financial and personal circumstances improve.
Probably because of the high proportion of sectional title properties turnover in the suburb is higher than in many other suburbs, with 50 percent of recent seller having owned their properties for less than five years. As the price of the properties increases the amount of time that the owners hold onto their properties increases as well.
The average age of buyers is also on the low side with 50 percent of recent buyers under the age of 35. The percentage of recent sellers under 35 is half that, indicating the nature of buyers and sellers in this area. Because the prices are at the upper end of the sectional title market buyers would be slightly older (but still within the under 35 category) but the sellers are at the bottom end of the 35 to 50 year old segment.
With its location at the north of Johannesburg, Paulshof is well positioned for access to the N1 as well as the commercial hubs of Sunninghill, Rivonia, Fourways and Bryanston. For shoppers there are a variety of new centres across the area making going out a relatively easy experience.
Schooling is slightly more difficult as there have been few new schools built in this area over the past few decades. Rivonia Primary and Bryanston Parallel Medium are the closest government primary schools and Bryanston and Fourways High Schools the closest government high schools. Private education is better with a new private college having opened in Waterfall Estate recently and St Peters Boys and Girls Schools in the suburb.
