Foreign buying of Cape Town property is skyrocketing

This growth in international buying is boosting demand for residential property, explains Loos.

However, he argues that the property boom in specific areas is not always due to foreign buyers.

"Sometimes we have a frequency bias issue; it's a normal cognitive bias. We bump into one or two foreigners buying in an area by coincidence and suddenly think they're taking over the whole suburb, but they're not."

Loos also links Cape Town's property boom amongst foreign buyers with local economic growth.

"Many of us want the economy to grow. Foreigners come here with purchasing power. Buyers in Cape Town come with significant purchasing power, and sometimes they come here with skills, too, if they're part of the working population.

"If you want to curb the levels of foreign visitors and people coming to live here or invest here, you're going to curb something regarding the economy, and you're possibly going to limit local job creation too.

"That's the choice we've got to make and, for me, it's about trying to boost supply and trying to create other high-density nodes in areas in Cape Town, where you build more residential stock and create other parts of Cape Town which are appealing for people to live. Because the population is growing at a steady pace and taking more of the economy out to areas which are typically dormitory towns on the Cape Flats."

To listen to Loos in conversation with John Maytham on CapeTalk's Afternoon Drive show, click below: