SAA Sawubona February 2013 - SouthAfrica.TO

Lately Sotheby’s International Realty
has experienced a sales surge in the
R6 million to R10 million range. These
are driven mainly by SA buyers taking
the opportunity to upgrade to larger and
more luxurious properties at the current
favourable price levels. They do so, says
Lew, in the firm belief that these will not
hold for more than another year.
Not one to pussyfoot around,
he expects a nine percent growth in
property values from 2014, effectively
the start of the next long-awaited
property boom.
How seriously can we take him?
For starters he is a veteran of a
30-year fluctuating property market and
there is little doubt that, as a child of the
first woman in SA to start a residential
property group, Lew was absorbing
the principles of property deals with
his baby formula. It is equally true that,
after an initial leg-up, he has since 1982
operated very much on his own steam.
As an industry leader he also holds many
directorships in associated real estate
and allied industries.
Having closed his first property
deal at the age of 16 and served a 10-
year apprenticeship with his mother’s
company, Aida Estates, Lew and
his wife Sandy started Lew Geffen
Estates in Johannesburg and acquired
the Sotheby’s master franchise for
the country 13 years ago. They have
since established 60 niche offices
throughout South Africa that benefit
from an international network across 40
countries and territories worldwide.
As Lew proudly boasts: “You
don’t need to search the world for the
perfect home, chances are Lew Geffen
Sotheby’s International Realty have
already found it.”
His first big sale was Gary Player’s
mansion in Bryanston at a “mega” price
of R500 000. Compare this with his most
expensive sale to date, R60 million for a
house in Sandhurst, and know how times
have changed.
Lew, Barak and Sandy Geffen.
Sotheby’s
“The quintessential image I have
always had of Sotheby’s was the
regular newsclips of famous auctions
and features in movies from time to
time. This to me was the epitome of
integrity, class and distinction …
To actually be part of Sotheby’s
International Realty today is a
subliminal personal dream fulfilled.” –
Lew Geffen
Apartment in Camps Bay.
148
Sawubona February 2013