Citymark National Housing Market Report - December 2021

Based on deeds registry data as of 31 December 2021 which was obtained from Lightstone Pty Ltd., this report provides an overview of South Africa’s residential property markets, with a focus on affordable housing. The residential property market is the largest component of the South African property market and a crucial source of household wealth. As of the end of 2021, there were 6.74 million residential properties on South Africa’s deeds registry, valued at approximately R6.26 trillion. Just under a third of all residential properties (30%) were valued under R300 000 and over half (52%) the properties were valued under R600 000. Furthermore, government-subsidised properties comprised a sizable portion (31% or 2.13 million) of all residential properties, particularly at the lower end of the market, reflecting the massive impact of public investment in the national government housing programme over the years.

Having seen activity decline in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, both the new and resale markets appear to be recovering, with notable increases in transaction volumes in 2021. South Africa’s resale market was three times more active than the new-build market for houses in 2021 —more than three quarters of all residential transactions were in the resale market. This is particularly important for low-income households in the affordable housing sector, as the resale market often serves as a first step onto the property ladder for first time home buyers/owners. In 2021, approximately 121 800 households became homeowners for the first time. Of these, 15% were beneficiaries of new government-subsidised housing.

The mortgage market also appears to be recovering in 2021. Bonded transactions, constituting 58% of all residential transactions, increased by 33% in volume and 48% in value in 2021. Although most bonds are issued for the purchase of higher end properties, there is evidence of mortgage lending for properties valued under R900 000.