These are the 27 most expensive suburbs in South Africa

 ·1 Feb 2025

Property analytics group Lightstone has revealed the most expensive suburbs in the country based on property values—and they’re all in the Western Cape.

This province accounted for the top 27 suburbs with at least ten sales, and the average price paid was more than R10 million. 

The average home price in the three most expensive suburbs, Llandudno, Bishopscourt, and Clifton, was more than R20 million. 

However, these neighbourhoods had fewer than 30 real estate sales last year. 

When looking at sales, Sea Point in Cape Town, Bryanston in Sandton, and Sandown in Milnerton were the three top high-end suburbs in sales. 

Sea Point saw 730 sales at an average price of R4,023,945. Bryanston had 696 sales at an average price of R3,753,662, whereas Sandown had 584 sales at an average price of R2,041,470.

Still, half of the suburbs on the high-end top sales list were in the Western Cape, and the other half were in Gauteng. 

Notably, most of South Africa’s dollar millionaires live in these two provinces. Gauteng has roughly 14,400, whereas the Western Cape has roughly 14,200. 

Return-to-work mandates issued by many companies headquartered in Johannesburg also prompt many who relocated to Cape Town after COVID-19 to return full-time instead of coping with the hassle of weekly commuting.

36% of home loans are taken out for properties in Johannesburg. 

Furthermore, there is an uptake in reverse semigration and brain regain, said Chas Everitt Hyde Park and Sandton principal Rory O’Hagan

He said that expats returning are buying property in the luxury market. He added that many of them had left due to political uncertainty and had taken their businesses with them. 

These people are choosing to settle in Cape Town or Johannesburg. In Cape Town, the housing market is driven by returning expats and foreigners looking to buy property. 

Some of the reasons why people return are the better climate and the lifestyle people have here. 

This lifestyle includes the fact that South Africa is relatively cheaper, people can live in nicer homes, and people have a sense of belonging here that they do not have overseas. 

The returning expats are retirees and people who left the country in their teens or early 20s, are now a bit older and want to start a family. 

“I think it’s people who have succeeded, who have built ties, built opportunities and built up enough capital to come back and live a much better quality life than what they left,” said Flux Trends futurist Bronwyn Williams.

Additionally, South Africa is home to about 2 million foreign expats who also come to live in South Africa. 

Here are a few of the properties in the top-selling luxury suburbs: 

A six-bedroom home in Sea Point, Cape Town:

  • Price: R39,950,000
  • land size 620m²
  • 6.5 bathrooms
  • Rates and taxes: R9300 pm

A four-bedroom home in Bryanston, Sandton:

  • Price: R7,950,000
  • land size 1400.00m², floor size 625m²
  • This house has a double garage and a swimming pool.

A four-bedroom home in Sandown, Blouberg: 

  • Price: R4,495,000
  • Land size 275 m², floor size 198 m²
  • 3 bathrooms, double garage.

Here are properties in the most expensive luxury suburbs:

A five-bedroom freehold in Llandudno, Cape Town 

  • R32,995,000
  • 990.00m² floor 434m²
  • Monthly rates R9000
  • 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms
  • This home has three garages, a pool and two flatlets.

A seven-bedroom house in Bishopscourt, Cape Town

  • Price: R70,000,000
  • Land size 5,433m² 
  • This home has seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms, eight garages a garden and a swimming pool.

A three-bedroom house in Clifton, Cape Town

  • Price: R49,950,000
  • Monthly rates: R22,683
  • Land size 366m², floor size 213m² 
  • This home has 3.5 bathrooms and a pool.
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