eThekwini Housing Market Report - 2020

With support from the Cities Support Programme of National Treasury, the Citymark project undertakes analysis of South Africa’s residential property markets, with a particular focus on the lower end of the market. Utilising title deeds data obtained from Lightstone Pty Ltd, the analysis separates the market into five segments, allowing the careful examination of the differentiated performance of the entry level (under R300 000), affordable (R300 000 – R600 000), conventional (R600 000 – R900 000), high-end (R900 000 – R1.2m) and luxury (over R1.2m) markets.

As part of our series of reports on the eight metros in South Africa, this report on the residential property market in eThekwini, KwaZulu Natal, provides a detailed analysis of government-sponsored properties, freehold and sectional title homes, new and resale transactions, lending, and first-time homeowners. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, the report includes a high-level analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on the property market.

eThekwini’s residential property market was valued at R420.5 billion in 2019. Only 21% of eThekwini’s residential properties are government-subsidised—the smallest share of all the metros. 2017 saw a sharp increase in new registrations, largely due to government housing programmes. This has since declined. In 2019, over half of first-time homebuyers/ owners entered the property market at the low end. 56% of all transactions in eThekwini were bonded. Absa reached down market the most—responsible for 42% of bonded transactions for properties below R300 000. A drop in the prime rate increases affordability and may broaden access to mortgage finance going forward.

CAHF’s work in South Africa is supported by: