A new report out from Prop Stats has shown that sales of property in the Atlantic seaboard suburbs of Cape Town have fallen considerably in the first half of 2011. The report shows that just twelve properties were sold in the Clifton area, and just nine in the Bantry Bay suburb of Cape Town. These statistics represent significant falls from the figures of 44 sales in Clifton and 63 sales in Bantry Bay for the same period last year.

Typically seen as the heartbeat of the Cape Town property market, the Atlantic seaboard suburbs are seen as a good barometer of the region's real estate sectors overall health. The most noticeable decline, was in the affluent suburb of Seapoint, where there were just 91 sales in the first five months of 2011, in comparison with 767 sales of the same period in 2010.

The figures from Prop Stats went on to show that the average property was now on the market for 231 days, and are typically the prices of property in Cape Town property in Cape Town and the surrounding suburbs were being discounted by as much as 30%.