Property in seaside golf estate fails to sell for 11 years

One property on KwaZulu-Natal’s South Coast hit the market in October 2015.

And for 11 years, it hasn’t sold.

The property is currently the oldest listing on multiple property websites, including the popular Private Property.

Why can’t this retirement-friendly seaside paradise sell?

In this small coastal town, over 80% of homeowners are over 50. The area is quiet and safe, with crime trending downward.

Yet, in an area that is otherwise popular with buyers, this 639-square-metre vacant plot with gorgeous sea views hasn’t sold.

In 2015, when the property hit the market, the average sale price in Pennington was R890 000.

That year, 181 properties sold in Pennington.

Since then, 1 405 more properties have sold.

By the end of October this year, the small town had recorded 129 sales, according to property reports from the KwaZulu-Natal Deeds Registry.

But this listing in the Penn Valley Golf Estate hasn’t sold.

The lack of sales may have to do with the asking price of other listings.

This 639-square-metre vacant plot is on the market for R750 000.

However, another listing in the same golf estate is asking R450 000.

The R450 000 listing, which is 600 square metres, went on the market in February 2026.

In another residential estate, just 5 minutes up the road from the Penn Valley property, plots are available with sea and river views for R390 000.

A sale earlier this year in Mary Osbourne Street, registered with the KwaZulu-Natal Deeds Registry, shows a plot sold for R277 000.

Can a plot sell for R750 000 in Pennington?

The area first surpassed the R1 million mark in 2020 and has been rising ever since.

Today, the average sale price in Pennington is R1.36 million.

But this average combines sales from plots and homes.

Homes in Penn Valley Golf Estate start at just under R2 million. With that

Yet, according to Opendoor, sometimes delays in selling have nothing to do with the listing price and everything to do with the seller.

Most South African buyers expect to negotiate on the listing price, expecting to reduce it by at least a few rand.

But if a seller isn’t eager, they’re not incentivised to accept anything less than the asking price.

This Pam Golding listing may be one such circumstance.

While the property has enviable views over the beach and river, if the seller isn’t budging, it could be on the market for another few years.