South Africa’s property market shows diverse performance across provinces, as outlined in Stats SA’s recent Residential Property Price Index (RPPI). Nationally, property prices increased by 3.5% year-on-year in March 2024, up from 3.1% in February. The Western Cape saw the highest growth, with property prices rising 7.7% over the year. Other notable increases include the North West at 5.0% and Mpumalanga at 2.3%. However, the Northern Cape and Limpopo faced property price declines of 4.8% and 2.3%, respectively. Gauteng recorded a slight 0.7% increase in property prices.

In metropolitan areas, Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality led with a 7.0% increase in property prices, followed by a 5.7% rise in Cape Town. Conversely, the City of Johannesburg saw a decline of 1.3%, while Nelson Mandela Bay and eThekwini Municipalities also experienced drops in property values.

New properties in metropolitan areas grew by 3.1% in March, outperforming resold properties, which increased by 2.4%. Over the past five years, the national property market saw a 23.8% rise in property prices, led by the Western Cape with a 35.5% increase, while the Northern Cape lagged with just 0.9% growth.

Despite sluggish salary growth, home loan activity has risen. TransUnion data shows a 6.7% increase in new home loans in Q1 2024, although average loan values have declined by 6.2%, indicating a trend towards more affordable homes. Overall, home loan balances grew by 7.6%, though delinquencies worsened by 140 basis points compared to the previous year.