This is the average price of a house in South Africa right now

The national average purchase price for property in Q1 2023 was R1,434,448, up only 0.8% from R1,422,992 in Q4 2022.

According to ooba Home Loan’s Q1 2023 oobarometer, there are still opportunities in the property market despite consumers being hit with two interest rate hikes in the Q1 2023.

Other data from the oobarometer suggests that homebuyers are continuing to take advantage of the competitive interest rate discounts offered by the nation’s biggest banks.

“However, while the market remains competitive and has recorded steady activity levels in the first quarter of 2023, multiple recent interest rate hikes have had a dampening impact on consumers whose disposable income is coming under pressure,” Rhys Dyer, CEO of ooba Home Loans, said.

There has been a steady drop in home loan applications, which aligns with the rate hike cycle that began in November 2021 – pushing the prime lending rate from 7% to 11.25%.

“Application volumes recorded in Q1 2023 are down 20% from Q1 2022 and the value of our instructed bonds are down by the same percentage from Q1 2022,” Dyer said.

“However, the good news is that the current application volumes resemble those received in Q2 and Q3 2019 (when prime was 10%), leading us to believe that this dip is part of the natural interest rate cycle.”

Homebuyers favour lower property prices. 

Although the 0.8% sideways trend is a concern for property sellers in the short-term future, Dyer said that  slow property price growth is good news for prospective homebuyers that have patiently waited to enter the market.

“Slowing house price inflation (HPI) means that properties are becoming more affordable, relative to household incomes.”

Looking across the nation’s provinces, the average purchase price remained relatively stable, except for Kwa-Zulu Natal where prices continued to recover after a difficult last quarter.

“Following the province’s 7.01% year-on-year growth in 2022, the Eastern Cape has also lost some of its momentum with an average purchase price of R1.46 million in Q1 2023 – down from R1.73 million in December 2022,” says Dyer.

The Western Cape had the highest average purchase price of R1.81 million, which was followed by Gauteng North and West at R1.5 million

Ooba said that the nine consecutive interest rate hikes have caused monthly bond repayments to rise from 18.3% in Q3 2021 to a high of 20.2% in Q1 2023.

However, on a national level, gross earnings are rising at a much faster rate than house prices.

According to StatsSA, average monthly earnings have grown by 22.6% from Q1 2019 to Q1 2023, while the average price of homes has grown by 16.1%.

Below are some of the properties that South Africans can buy for the average purchase price in Q1 2023:

• 2 Bedroom Townhouse in Faerie Glen, Pretoria
• Price: R1,430,000

• 3 Bedroom House in Parsonvlei, Gqeberha 
• Price: R1,415, 000

• 3 Bedroom apartment in Hermanus Beach Club
• Price: R1,400,000

Read: Tips for anyone looking to sell in the current property market