{"id":850639,"date":"2026-02-16T15:04:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T13:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=850639"},"modified":"2026-02-16T15:04:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T13:04:19","slug":"r839-per-month-joy-still-expected-for-south-african-homeowners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/property\/850639\/r839-per-month-joy-still-expected-for-south-african-homeowners\/","title":{"rendered":"R839 per month joy still expected for South African homeowners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Standard Bank is forecasting three 25-basis-point interest rate cuts in 2026, which is roughly R839 in savings per month for a homeowner paying off an average home in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presenting the bank\u2019s 2026 economic outlook, chief economist Goolam Ballim said South Africa has not experienced \u201cthis much of a positive macroeconomic climate in a long decade\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His optimism comes from several milestones achieved in 2025, including sovereign credit rating upgrades, progress on macroeconomic reforms, the country\u2019s removal from the grey list, and agreement on a lower inflation target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ballim said these improvements create a stronger foundation for households and businesses. \u201cWe anticipate further rate relief this year. We think it could be up to three-quarters of a percentage point, cumulatively, further stimulating consumer credit,\u201d he said at the group\u2019s Rosebank headquarters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standard Bank expects the repo rate to fall to 6% by the end of 2026, down from the current 6.75%. This implies three 25-basis-point cuts over the course of the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While most economists are forecasting only two cuts, in line with the SARB\u2019s January quarterly projection model, Ballim believes there is room for more easing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe real repo rate [the repo rate minus inflation] is still fairly high and therefore encouraging the Reserve Bank\u2019s proclivity for lower rates,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the anticipated rate relief, Standard Bank has cautioned that 2026 will not be \u201ca miracle year\u201d for economic growth. The bank forecasts GDP growth of 1.4% in 2026, only slightly higher than the 1.2% expected for 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ballim noted that the SARB\u2019s move to adopt a lower 3% inflation target, agreed with the finance minister and National Treasury last year, has helped anchor inflation expectations at significantly lower levels than under the previous 3% to 6% target range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even so, inflation is expected to remain slightly above the new target. Standard Bank forecasts consumer inflation to average 3.4% in 2026, easing to 3.3% in 2027 and 3.2% in 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Savings for homeowners paying off a bond <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Data from ooba Home Loans shows<\/a> that a 125-basis-point reduction (assuming the MPC cuts rates this month by 25-basis points) translates into monthly savings of R848 on a R1 million bond and R1,697 on a R2 million bond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest oobarometer report highlighted that the average home price in South Africa has climbed to R1,695,257. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This aligns with what BetterBond gauged as the national average, noting a price of R1.6 million in BetterBond\u2019s latest (January) Property Brief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means a 1.25% drop in interest rates would bring notable relief to homeowners over the last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the average South African home priced at R1.695 million, the monthly repayment decreases by R1,438, providing much-needed relief to households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While uncertainties remain, the combination of lower rates, easing inflation, and renewed confidence will benefit the property market and prospective buyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The savings on bonds for property prices between R850,000 and R5 million can be found below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bond value<\/th>January 2026
(10.25%)<\/th>		Expected by year-end
(9.50%)<\/th>		Saving<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
R850,000<\/td>R8,344<\/td>R7,923<\/td>R421<\/td><\/tr>
R1,000,000<\/td>R9,816<\/td>R9,321<\/td>R495<\/td><\/tr>
R1,500,000<\/td>R14,724<\/td>R13,982<\/td>R742<\/td><\/tr>
R1,695,257<\/strong>
(Average)<\/td>		R16,641<\/strong><\/td>R15,802<\/strong><\/td>R839<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
R2,000,000<\/td>R19,632<\/td>R18,642<\/td>R990<\/td><\/tr>
R2,500,000<\/td>R24,541<\/td>R23,303<\/td>R1,238<\/td><\/tr>
R3,000,000<\/td>R29,449<\/td>R27,964<\/td>R1,485<\/td><\/tr>
R3,500,000<\/td>R34,358<\/td>R32,625<\/td>R1,733<\/td><\/tr>
R4,000,000<\/td>R39,266<\/td>R37,285<\/td>R1,981<\/td><\/tr>
R4,500,000<\/td>R44,174<\/td>R41,946<\/td>R2,228<\/td><\/tr>
R5,000,000<\/td>R49,082<\/td>R46,607<\/td>R2,475<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Standard Bank is forecasting some good news about interest rates for homeowners in South Africa in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":850818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12755],"tags":[12210,21425,853,499],"class_list":["post-850639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-property","tag-betterbonds","tag-ooba-home-loans","tag-south-africa","tag-standard-bank"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=850639"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":850817,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850639\/revisions\/850817"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/850818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=850639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=850639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=850639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}