Exploring the South African property market: What R1.3million can secure?

The average price of a house is now just shy of R1.3 million after prices increased 2.54%, with the cost of a deposit now at R216,088 – just short of 10% of the cost of a home. 

In Greenside, a leafy suburb just to the north of the Johannesburg CBD, R1m will get you a maximum of two bedrooms, a similar search result as in Edenvale in the east. Florida, in the west, will secure you a house with as many as three bedrooms, while the south of Johannesburg, Kibler Park, offers more value than Greenside and Edenvale, but not as much as in Florida. 

In Durban, a three-bedroom home can be had in Bellair for under R1m, while this size house will be R1.25m in Bluff. For about half that, you can get a 1 bedroom apartment on South Beach. 

Home prices are rather dependent on location, and R1.3m in Cape Town will secure a buyer a home with anywhere between one and two bedrooms, depending on whether it’s in Observatory or in Belhar, for example.

According to MyProperty Home Loans, first-time buyers continue to lead activity in the home loan market, accounting for 67.77% of all bond approvals in April 2025. This reflects a slight decline from 67.82% in April 2024. 

MyProperty’s data follows that of FNB’s, which released its House Price Index (HPI) for last month earlier this week. FNB’s statistics found that there was an average price gain of 2.2% year-on-year in April, which is the fastest pace at which housing has become more expensive in two years. 

Statistics South Africa's General Household Survey shows a typical household has 3.2 members. Over 75% of homes have four to five members or fewer, while only 13% have six or more members. 

MyProperty Home Loans also noted that the approved bond rose by 0.75% to R1,046,110. 

“The South African property market in April 2025 reflects a cautious but steady recovery, with home loan data pointing to modest price growth and improving sentiment among buyers,” it said.

According to the FNB House Price Index, home values increased by 2.2% year-on-year—marking the fastest growth in nearly two years.

Despite this positive development, transaction volumes remain around 16% below pre-pandemic levels, suggesting that while buyer confidence is improving, overall market activity is still subdued. 

In 2023, South Africa’s residential property market comprised 6.91 million properties and was valued at R6.789 trillion, City Mark data indicates, the latest information available to IOL. 

However, bond approval from applicants’ own banks declined from 53.01% to 51.67%, indicating that buyers are increasingly shopping around for better deals, a trend that aligns with broader shifts toward financial caution and value-seeking behaviour, said MyProperty Home Loans. 

“Overall, the data points to a market where affordability remains top of mind for buyers, especially first-time entrants. While deposits are growing, the willingness of banks to extend high loan-to-value ratios and slightly better interest rates is helping to keep the market accessible.

"With expectations of further interest rate relief and potential changes to property-related policy, market conditions may continue to improve through the remainder of the year,” said MyProperty Home Loans.

IOL