Author:  Staff Writer
27 April 2020

Research group New World Wealth has published its South African wealth report for 2020, highlighting where some of the country’s richest people choose to live.

As part of the group’s research, it looks at the price of property per square metre in prime property areas across the country.

The group found that South Africa’s residential property market has performed poorly over the review period (2009 to 2019) with average prices declining by around 36% in US dollar terms.

However, it noted that the rand depreciated significantly during this period, which obviously contributed to the decline.

Other possible reasons for the drop include:

• A dip in the top-end market. In particular, houses valued at over R10 million have become very difficult to sell;

• Increased utility bills (rates, electricity & water), which have risen by more than three times over the 10 year period. This has discouraged people from buying property and forced many people to downsize;

• High transfer duties of up to 13%. Notably, for properties valued at R10 million and above, transfer duty exceeds R900,000;

• High crime levels, which have deterred people from buying free-standing houses in particular;

• Threats of land redistribution without compensation, which have discouraged people from making large scale property purchases;

• Second homes no longer desirable – declining returns and rising costs have discouraged people from buying holiday homes.

“Notably, luxury apartments have been the best performing residential segment in SA over the past decade as many buyers have moved away from houses,” New World Wealth said.

Below the group outlined the most expensive streets and suburbs in South Africa.

Note: Figures for December 2019. Translated at R14.00/US$.

The most expensive streets in South Africa

The most expensive suburbs in South Africa

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