The City of Cape Town is leading in new property registrations, closely followed by the City of Johannesburg.
Gauteng has four of the top six cities with the highest number of new property registrations, which include Joburg, Ekurhuleni, Tshwane and Lesedi, along with eThekweni in KwaZulu-Natal.
The trend of urbanisation is affecting the residential property sector, as more South Africans move from rural areas to urban centres in pursuit of better economic opportunities.
Hayley Ivins-Downes, managing executive of real estate at Lightstone, a provider of detailed data and analytics related to property, automotive and business assets, noted that an analysis of data from 2013 to 2023 showed subtle changes in population dynamics, particularly in areas where new housing stock was being registered with the deeds office and the corresponding price ranges.
“Gauteng and Western Cape dominate when it comes to drawing population shift from rural to areas adjacent to urban, while KwaZulu-Natal comes in at fifth place in three of the categories. Western Cape is overweight in the higher price bands, while Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Free State appear in the lower price bands,” said Ivins-Downes.
Ivins-Downes said the City of Cape Town registered the highest number of new properties in three bands — under R500,000, R1m-R3m and over R3m, while it registered the third most in the R500,000-R1m category. Gauteng’s Ekurhuleni was tops in the R500,000-R1m category, while the City of Johannesburg was second in all categories.
Additionally, the City of Cape Town registered the highest number of new properties since 2019, totalling 57,250 at the Deeds Office.
According to Sesfikile Capital head of research Naeem Tilly, the level of new property registrations in the City of Cape Town is directly related to the growing population.
“People are relocating from various parts of the country (semigration), especially Gauteng, to Cape Town, attracted by a mix of lifestyle, safety, service delivery and economic opportunities. With the increase in demand, property prices in Cape Town have risen. The influx is particularly noticeable in sought-after areas like the Atlantic seaboard and the southern suburbs,” Tilly said.
The third largest number of properties under R500,000 were registered in Lesedi, while Mangaung in the Free State and the City of Matlosana (Klerksdorp) in Northwest followed Ekurhuleni in this category.
In the R500,000-R1m price band, Emalahleni in Mpumalanga and Polokwane in Limpopo followed eThekweni.
“In terms of new stock valued at more than R3m, Western Cape towns accounted for nine of the top 20, most of which would be the destinations semigrants would be moving to. Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal each accounted for three,” she said.
The emerging contender is Lesedi, situated southeast of Johannesburg, which has experienced the fastest growth in percentage terms.
The local municipality has collaborated closely with the Gauteng department of human settlements to develop land and infrastructure for housing, resulting in the delivery of more than 11,000 houses and the formalisation of 943 informal stands.
Despite this progress, the housing backlog remains significant due to migration into the area.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.