 Simon Bray, CEO of Private Property, is back to share some more property insights into the best neighborhoods around South Africa. Of course, a great new online resource attached to their websites. And I'm sure quite a journey exploring all of these neighborhoods and coming to grips with all the different dynamics. Now, we looked at the southern suburbs, we've looked at Santsen. On the completely different end of the scale, maybe I'm wrong, we now move down to Durban. What is Durb's all about? Oh, I mean, Durb's all about the beach, right? Yeah. It's a beautiful place. In fact, I studied in Johannesburg and I kind of fell in love with Durban when I was a student. The surfing lifestyle, the beach, the warm weather. And I'm lucky enough now that Private Property's head office is based just north of Durban. So I get to enjoy that every day. We love them, Schlango. You know, that is a beautiful area you guys are based. But Durban itself has seen a lot of investment. We've seen it starting to grow and change shape. A lot of those suburbs changing along with the times. What is Durban all about when we look at the property market there and the residential areas? Durban's a beautiful old area. You know, you've got a lot of kind of old architecture, old homes. Many of the houses actually up on the ridge are heritage homes. So they're protected and they've got this lovely sense of character. Interestingly, most of them in the warm, hot, humid climate of Durban have got fireplaces. It's like this throwback to some European heritage. It speaks to a colonial era. Yeah, for sure, for sure. But very diverse place, you know. Very energetic, interesting place. You've got restaurants and curry houses and, you know, this is the vibe that Durban has. Yeah, an unbelievable nightlife. We look at Florida Road places like that. One thing that has amazed me because I get a lot of snapshots going there where I get to see developments kind of starting and then being finished. And there are a lot of new developments there. Talk to me about the property market itself. How do we go about that? How do we approach that market? Why is it as a seller? What's the property market like? I think the most exciting thing about Durban is how affordable the property market is. You know, you look at a lot of great areas in South Africa and I would classify Durban certainly as a great area in terms of lifestyle. But in terms of the value for money that you get in Durban, it's tough to beat anywhere in the country. So an average home is around $850,000 for a two-bedroom apartment. To put that in perspective, the repayments on a place like that are only about $7,000, $8,000, around a month. And the average rentals in Durban are about $7,000, around a month. So it actually pays to own your own place in Durban, which is pretty cool. There are not a lot of places like that in South Africa where the rentals and the cost of ownership are about the same. Good for investors and also good for people looking to buy and own their house. I was going to say, great for a first-time buyer as well, where you really do want to treat it as an investment. So who lives there? Who lives in Durban? I suppose we've got the cliched image of our Durbanites in there, but we're seeing a lot more business being done down in Durban. You yourself have highlighted the fact that companies are moving at least satellite stations down there or having a presence down there. Who would my neighbour be in Durban? I mean, obviously the beach is a big thing in Durban. We've got this unbelievable surfer lifestyle. You can actually swim in the water. The promenade that was developed around the World Cup now stretches all the way from the harbour entrance all the way up to Blue Lagoon. So it's miles and miles of beautiful pristine beachfront. Guys are cycling there on the weekends, walking their dogs, going for a surf, going for a swim. So that really has energised the market in Durban itself, but there are a lot of other things that make Durban special, and I think that's what drives the property market and perhaps defines the type of people that live there. Some of the best schools in the whole of KZN are located right on the ridge there in Durban, so a lot of family-orientated people live there. We profiled one such guy, Brandon Ribbink, you know, ex-lifesaver, international longboarding champion, so I mean, he's obviously in love with the beach, but now he's got a young family, lives up there on the ridge. They go to school just down the road, and that's the type of scene that you see a lot of in Durban. Young families want to enjoy the lifestyle but also tap into, you know, great schooling and the convenience of access. You know, you go west full just up the road, or on Schlunger just a little bit further. So very central. You know, I have to reiterate, I went out, I love running at night, and I went out for a late night run along that promenade, got quite close to the harbour, and there was a young lady running at about 10 o'clock in the evening, they're completely safe, they really have kind of gone out of their way and kind of family vibe. If you could pick one suburb to live in, in Durban's? You know, Morningside is beautiful because you kind of perched up at the top of that bowl and you get to look out over the stadium, over the beautiful ocean, and that's a very pretty, leafy suburb. You know, I would love to live in Morningside. Oh, man, well, thank you so much for giving us your insights today. One last tip to leave us with concerning Durban's? Durban's all about the lifestyle, that it's a super affordable property market, so if you're looking to get in, as you said, as a first-time buyer or as an investor, it certainly makes a lot of sense. All right, well, you've made a lot of sense. Thank you so much for all the time and effort and resources you guys have invested in neighbourhoods, loving the fact that we can now find the property. Yes, but also find the lifestyle that suits us. Brilliant. Well, there you have it, Simon Brake giving his thoughts on neighbourhoods once again today. You can visit privateproperty.coza to discover more about private property and their new neighbourhood tour. Loads of information about the kind of culture, the lifestyle you'll buy into when finding that perfect home for you.