The Great Trek from Gauteng to the Western Cape

Sean Kelly moved to Cape Town from Johannesburg in 2015 with his young family - part of a trend of internal migration pointed to by Premier Helen Zille.

At her State of the Province address, Zille said there had been a dramatic increase in Gauteng residents buying property in the province.

"Amazingly, 56% of all bonds registered by residents of Gauteng in the past year were for properties in the Western Cape," said Zille.

The 45-year-old Kelly packed up his life when his wife got a transfer from work.

Another reason for leaving was getting their two children into a good government school in Cape Town.

The dash to the Cape is happening for a number of reasons, including its natural beauty and economic performance.

Property economist Erwin Rode said Cape Town was also considered safer.

Rode said it seemed as if "half of South Africa is migrating to the Western Cape".

Historically the Witwatersrand area had the most expensive properties.

Things changed in the 1980s when commodity prices dropped. Then the Western Cape property market started booming because it was "less dependent" on commodity prices, said Rode.

The property boom started picking up three years ago.

"I attribute it to not only the economic factor.but also there is a governance issue," he said.

Economic opportunities MEC Alan Winde said the province's popularity was driving property prices up.

"The property prices are increasing way in excess of inflation," said Winde.

Many who had bought property in the past year were not interested in moving.

A substantial proportion of buyers were investors.

Gauteng agents of Sotheby's International Realty have reported that up to 40% of the properties they list are put on the market because owners are moving to Cape Town.

Karen Bosman, area specialist for Lew Geffen Sotheby's International Realty in Benmore, Hurlingham Manor and Parkmore in Johannesburg, said in the past year about 25% of her sellers moved south.

Company chairman Lew Geffen said buyers range from the super-wealthy to the middle classes.

"Not everybody who is currently buying property in Cape Town intends to live here immediately. The number of bond registrations in the province originating from Gauteng will be inflated by people buying second-home, entry-level properties to get onto the Cape Town ladder now while homes are still relatively affordable," he said.

Andrew Golding, CE of the Pam Golding Property group, said Zille's remarks were supported by the FNB Repeat Home Buyer Study 2012, which found that "the Western Cape has by far the strongest net inward migration rate of repeat buyers from other provinces".

"The bank has said that the acceleration of net inflow of repeat home buyers in 2016 accounted for much of the Western Cape's superior house price growth last year," said Golding.

"According to the PGP Index, house price inflation for the Cape between January and October 2016 was 11.55%, well above the national average of 4.9%. "

Kelly said his family was enjoying life in Cape Town although everything was pricier.