{"id":883645,"date":"2026-11-14T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-14T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=883645"},"modified":"2026-11-13T17:03:14","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T15:03:14","slug":"what-r1-million-could-buy-you-in-south-africa-in-2016-vs-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/property\/883645\/what-r1-million-could-buy-you-in-south-africa-in-2016-vs-today\/","title":{"rendered":"What R1 million could buy you in South Africa in 2016 vs today"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africans looking to buy a home with R1 million are getting considerably less property for their money than they did a decade ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An analysis by property data company Lightstone shows how rising property prices have changed what R1 million can buy in South Africa between 2016 and 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lightstone’s analysis is based on Deeds Registry sales registered in 2016 and between September 2025 and August 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It includes normal market transactions involving residential properties, excluding vacant land, non-market transfers and other exceptional sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While property prices have increased relatively slowly compared with general inflation and average earnings, the impact on buyers is evident in the size and type of homes available at this price point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The data show that houses you can afford are becoming smaller, flats have lost a bedroom, and affordable properties are increasingly difficult to find in some of the country’s most sought-after areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Mid-value areas, a typical freehold house bought for R1 million is now approximately 40sqm smaller than it was in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is roughly equivalent to the floor space of a double garage. The stand has also shrunk by approximately 180 sqm, or about two-thirds of a tennis court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, in 2016, the most common flat available for R1 million in a Mid-value area was a three-bedroom unit. Today, buyers are more likely to find a two-bedroom flat that is approximately 25 sqm smaller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2016, three out of every four sectional title units sold for R1 million in Mid-value areas had a second bathroom. Today, this applies to only about half of these properties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In High-value areas, buyers can still find a three-bedroom freehold house of approximately 185 sqm for R1 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Lightstone found that only about a third as many of these properties are now being sold at this price, making them considerably harder to find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Johannesburg remains one of the more affordable major property markets<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The data also revealed a broader shift in the type of property buyers can afford. In 2016, R1 million was enough to purchase four out of five freehold houses sold in Mid-value areas. Today, it covers less than half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In High-value areas, the same amount could buy approximately one-third of freehold houses in 2016. Today, it buys fewer than one in 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For sectional title buyers in Mid-value areas, however, affordability has held up better. R1 million can still purchase just over eight out of 10 units sold, compared with more than nine out of 10 a decade ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lightstone Property Business Development Executive Esteani Marx said property price growth had remained relatively subdued compared with inflation and earnings growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLightstone\u2019s House Price Index shows that between 2016 and 2026, Sectional Title property prices increased by approximately 29%, while Freehold properties recorded growth of 41%,\u201d Marx said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means a property worth R1 million in 2016 would now be valued at approximately R1.29 million if it were a sectional title property, or R1.41 million if it were a freehold home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both increases are below the 59% general inflation recorded over the same period. Average monthly earnings in the formal sector increased by 72%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis highlights how property values have grown more slowly than both the cost of living and earnings, potentially creating more favourable conditions for prospective homebuyers,\u201d Marx said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, households have also faced substantial increases in everyday expenses. Petrol prices have more than doubled, electricity has become considerably more expensive, and the price of a Big Mac has increased by 86%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By comparison, property prices have risen more slowly than the price of an entry-level Volkswagen Polo Vivo, which increased by approximately 60%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johannesburg remains one of the more affordable major property markets, with typical sectional title prices increasing by only around 7% over the decade. R1 million still buys more than half of all flats sold in the city, broadly similar to 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cape Town has become significantly more expensive. Flat prices have increased by approximately 64%, reducing the share of properties available for R1 million from one in every two sales to around one in five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest increases have been recorded along parts of the Western Cape and Eastern Cape coasts. Flat prices in the Garden Route, Jeffreys Bay and Hermanus have more than doubled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africans looking to buy a home with R1 million are getting considerably less property for their money than they did a decade ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":777390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"failed","_sma_x_autopost_error":"Instagram publishing failed: Instagram returned HTTP 400: Media ID is not available","_sma_x_post_id":"2121560033703903280","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2272972273523171","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12755],"tags":[11623,853],"class_list":["post-883645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-property","tag-lightstone-properties","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883645","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=883645"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":883670,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883645\/revisions\/883670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}