The growing affordability gap: Why younger South Africans are delaying homeownership

A CONCERNING trend for South Africa’s younger generations reveals that property buyers are entering the market later in life, underscoring a deepening affordability gap.

According to insights from Lightstone Property, which provides analytics across the country’s automotive, property, and financial sectors, an increasing number of buyers are over the age of 35, and the phenomenon is indicative of a broader global issue affecting first-time home buyers.

“We’re seeing a global trend of first-time buyers entering the market later in life, and South Africa is no exception. The steady ageing of homebuyers highlights the growing affordability gap for younger buyers. While affordability plays a major role, lifestyle and economic factors are equally shaping when and whether young people buy homes,” said Hayley Ivins-Downes, Lightstone managing executive real estate and director at Prop Data.

Lightstone Property's analysis looked at transaction volumes, the rising age of buyers, luxury market performance, provincial disparities, and how South Africa stacks up against international markets. The report stated that apart from flat or falling sales, buyers of residential properties in South Africa were no longer younger people as it was in the past. It is now older people.

The trend of buying houses later or becoming first time owners at an older age was not unique to South Africa, but is a global phenomenon in many developed (and some developing) countries.

"It's a trend that strongly correlates with affordability, namely housing costs, from the price of a home and living expenses versus income, saving capability, mortgage or loan terms and interest rates. As well as life changes such as later marriages, fewer children, more years in education, more debt and so on. Economic uncertainty also plays its part," highlighted the report.

The percentage of those over 60 has doubled since 2000 to 2025, while those between the ages of 35 and 60 have increased from around 50% in 2000 to 70% in 2025, and buyers under 35 have dropped from around 45% in 2000 to just 30% in 2025.

In 2000, buyers under the age of 35 accounted for over 80,000 transactions, representing 47% of the total, but by 2024 this had fallen to 53 000 or 30%. "The fall raises the question of where younger people are living now?"

Notably, South Africa’s property market has also faced challenges in recovering from the 2008 financial crisis as swiftly as other global markets, such as those in the UK, US, and Australia.

South Africa's recovery has been more sluggish, reflecting persistent economic, political, and affordability challenges.

While volumes have not recovered to pre-2008 levels nationally, there have been exceptions. The Western Cape leads in sales volume recovery.

The super luxury house price bands in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal spend more time on the market than the less expensive bands. The trend is different in the Western Cape, where mid and high value band houses spend longer on the market in that province than luxury and super luxury properties.

SUNDAY TRIBUNE