The latest Residential Property Price Index (RPP) shed light on the South African property market, revealing a complex picture.
Data released by Statistics South Africa revealed that the national average house price increased by 7.8% year-on-year in January 2026.
Independent economist John Loos said that the Western Cape (11%) has been an out-performer, while Gauteng (4,5%) is performing, but not as highly as expected.
He explained that the market continues to be greatly impacted by inflation and interest rates.
“A reasonably good picture… which has very much to do with interest rate cutting last year.”
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The report revealed that the index of properties sold for the first time had increased by 2% year-on-year, while the increase in the index of resold properties was 7.6% year-on-year.
“It was creating a better environment for newly built properties, because resold properties were getting more expensive. That was quite important for the building sector,” he said.
Freehold properties continue to outperform sectional titles since the pandemic.
The average freehold property price growth sits at 9.9%, while sectional title property prices grew by 5.5%.
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Loos said that the recovery of sectional titles was not as expected.
“Sectional titles are generally smaller, on average cheaper, and with those interest rates having gone down, you would have thought that there would be a strong demand for sectional titles. But that doesn’t seem to be the case yet.”
Chante Ho Hip
www.ewn.co.za