Traffic Causes Commuters To Move

The once popular and often envied lifestyle of living in Pretoria and working in Johannesburg – and vice versa – seems to be steadily losing its sparkle, according to home sales trends monitored by Pam Golding Properties.

"Many motorway commuters who in the past have chosen to work in the one city and live in the other increasingly no longer wish to do so," says Ronald Ennik, managing director of the Gauteng division of the real estate group.

"This is quite clear from the significant increase this year in the volume of buy and sell cross-referalls we are experiencing between the Pam Golding Properties branches in Pretoria and Johannesburg. And the main reason given by the city-to-city commuter homeowners now wishing to relocate their homes is the consistent traffic congestion – and resultant time disruption and frustration - which has become synonymous with travelling up and down the now frequently bottlenecked motorway that links Gauteng's two biggest cities," says Ennik.

The increase in fuel costs is, of course, an aggravating factor. "Homeowners who are commuting between Johannesburg and Pretoria, and who are now selling up and relocating their home address closer to their work place, have told us that they have often spent up to three hours a day getting to and from work – depending on the prevailing traffic conditions," says Ennik.

"Many of these motorway commuters have been leaving their

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