The 7 most expensive areas to rent in South Africa

Seven areas in South Africa have luxury apartment rents averaging over R15,000 per month, all of which are found in the Mother City.

According to the latest Rode’s Report for Q3 2024, flat rentals look promising across South Africa.

Rode’s residential survey data showed that flat vacancy rates stood at an average of 6.3% in Q3 2024, down from 6.7% in Q2 2024.

This means vacancy rates in 2024 are on track to average below the 7.2% of 2023.

It added that the decline in national vacancy rates has supported rental growth.

Data from Stats Sa showed that nominal flat rentals in South Africa increased by 3.8% in Q3 2024 compared to the same period a year prior.

“September’s increase was measured at 4,1%. This is higher than the CPI or inflation rate − the first real growth since 2020,” said Rode.

“The trendline of real rentals portrays a promising picture, seen from the landlords’ point of view.”

Moreover, rentals outgrew inflation in four provinces in Q3, with the North West, Free State and Limpopo provinces showing the best growth, albeit from a low base.

Regarding the central provinces, the Western Cape stood out from Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

The Western Cape’s flat vacancy rate has stabilised at lower levels of around 2% to 3% over the last year, which is well below the national average. Nominal rentals also grew 4.4% year-on-year in September – well above the 3.8% inflation figure for the month.

“The Western Cape has many factors counting in its favour, like a great lifestyle and better-maintained
infrastructure,” said Rode.

“It is also the province with the lowest unemployment rate in South Africa,” said Rode.

“On the other hand, it is the province with the most expensive rent, which could hold back rental growth from the current elevated levels, considering affordability.”

The story looks better in Gauteng. While rentals struggled significantly during 2020 and 2021, rental growth reached 2.1% in the third quarter of 2024.

The flat vacancy rate also declined from 8.6% in Q3 2023 to 7% in Q3 2024.

“Gauteng residents face the challenge of deteriorating essential infrastructure, such as water, sewage,
and power systems, which require considerable improvements,” said Rode.

“Successfully addressing these issues could attract more people to the province, thereby boosting the residential market.”

In KZN, vacancy rates remain close to 10%, while rental growth has also slowed.

“We notice vacancies are taking longer to fill toward the latter part of the year. We have also seen an increase in tenants that struggle to keep up with the rental payments,” said the group.

High interest rates are a positive factor for the South African rental market over the short term, as they will continue to attract many potential buyers who will rent instead.

That said, this will become less of a factor as interest rates are expected to decline further over the next 12 to 18 months following the Reserve Bank’s September cut of the repo rate to 8.00%.

Most expensive areas to rent

The report also gives the average rentals for several areas across South Africa, with upmarket three-bedroom apartments on the Atlantic Seaboard getting R120,000 in rent.

However, Rode warned that flat-rental data sometimes tends to be erratic due to small sample sizes.

It thus advises using an average of at least two quarters to obtain a more stable rental rate.

Using available data on upmarket three-bedroom apartments across two-quarters, the average rent for a flat in Camps Bay, Clifton and Bantry Bay in Cape Town will set one back R125,000 per month.

Other suburbs on the Atlantic Seaboard – Sea Point, Green Point and Three Anchor Bay will set one back R55,000.

Going further South, luxury flats in Muizenberg, Kalk Bay and Fish Hoek will set one back R25,000.

The most expensive areas to rent can be found below:

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