What a R1 million house is worth today if you bought in 2019 – Cape Town vs Joburg vs Durban and more
Residential property prices across South Africa have risen by an average of 23.8% over the past five years, though certain provinces have performed better than others.
This is according to StatsSA’s latest Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) for the first quarter of 2024.
The RPPI tracks the change in prices for various types of residential properties, including houses, townhouses, and flats, that are bought by private individuals.
The data used to calculate the index comes from the Office of the Chief Registrar of Deeds, which records all property transactions in the country.
The RPPI measures how property prices change over time at the national, provincial, and metropolitan levels.
For the year leading up to March 2024, the RPPI recorded a 3.5% national increase in property prices.
Among the provinces, the Western Cape saw the largest price surge, with residential property values rising by 7.7% from March 2023 to March 2024.
North West followed with a 5.0% increase, while Mpumalanga saw a more modest rise of 2.3%.
However, not all provinces experienced growth—property prices in the Northern Cape dropped by 4.8%, and Limpopo saw a decline of 2.3%. Gauteng, the country’s economic hub, saw only a slight increase of 0.7%.
Looking at a broader five-year period from 2019 to 2024, the national RPPI shows an overall property price increase of 23.8%, with an average annual rise of 4.8%.
Again, the Western Cape leads with a significant 35.5% increase in property prices over this period.
In contrast, the Northern Cape recorded the slowest growth at just 0.9%, while Gauteng’s property prices rose by 16.4%, below the national average.
These trends reflect how regional factors impact property markets, with the Western Cape remaining a standout performer in terms of price growth.
The table below compares the performance of properties in South Africa’s nine provinces and what the price of a R1 million house bought in 2019 would be in 2024.
| Province | Five-year price change (%) | 2024 value of R1 million home purchased in 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| Western Cape | +35.5% | R1,355,000 |
| Mpumalanga | +27.7% | R1,277,000 |
| National Avg. | +23.8% | R1,238,000 |
| Eastern Cape | +22.4% | R1,224,000 |
| North West | +22.4% | R1,224,000 |
| Free State | +19.2% | R1,192,000 |
| Gauteng | +16.4% | R1,164,000 |
| KwaZulu Natal | +15.5% | R1,155,000 |
| Limpopo | +9.7% | R1,097,000 |
| Northern Cape | +0.9% | R1,009,000 |
Despite the increases in prices, just looking at the prices of homes across the provinces doesn’t tell the whole story.
When adjusted for inflation, the value of properties nationally has actually declined by 3.9%.
Inflation over the same period was recorded at 27.7%.
The price of a property is the amount of money someone pays for it at a specific time. This price can go up or down over the years based on demand, location, and market conditions.
When adjusted for inflation, the property’s value takes into account how the general cost of goods and services has changed over time.
For example, if you bought a house 10 years ago for R500,000 and today it’s worth R700,000, it seems like the price has gone up.
But if inflation has also increased over that time, the actual value of the property might not have grown as much as it seems because R700,000 today may buy less than R500,000 did 10 years ago.
Considering this, the value of residential properties in Mpumalanga has remained the same as it was in 2019, while those in the Western Cape have increased in value by 7.8%.
The rest have lost value.
A similar trend was highlighted by the Q2 2024 Oobarometer report published by Ooba Home Loans.
According to the report, both the national and first-time homebuyer purchase prices have shown marginal nominal price growth year-on-year at 2.3% and 2.7%, respectively.
Despite the growth, real property price growth remains negative due to still elevated inflation.
Many experts point to service delivery and investment as the reasons why the Western Cape is the only one that has seen real price growth in its property market.
Read: The best-run municipalities in South Africa – with more than half in one province
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