If you live in Cape Town and have your sights set on renting in the CBD, then you’re probably very familiar with the hustle that goes into securing a decent spot.

It’s all about the location, which means that to secure prime property, you have to be willing to drop some serious cash while sacrificing space.

That’s because Cape Town has the highest average rent in the country, according to the new Rental Index compiled by PayProp.

Here’s BusinessTech:

The index showed that rental growth slowed to 4.14% in the last quarter of 2018, versus 5.39% over the same period in 2017.

However, it was the first quarterly uptick in the rental growth rate in two years, and also the highest quarterly year-on-year growth for 2018.

At R7,610, the average national rent moved into a higher rental bracket in Q4, from the R5,000 – R7,500 category to the R7,500 – R10,000 category.

The R5,000 – R7,500 bracket is still the most populous in South Africa, comprising approximately a third of all rentals.

Most provinces also saw lower rental growth and a decline in the average tenant’s financial situation. This is in part because net incomes stays the same while rent goes up.

This increase in turn affects affordability ratios. And as incomes have grown more slowly than rents, the slight increase we measured in the rent-to-income ratio was to be expected.

The following graph illustrates rental growth versus inflation:

You can see the breakdown of average rental prices per province here:

This is why we pay a fortune for a broom cupboard in Cape Town.

But it’s a ‘cosy fixer-upper’, says the listing.

[source:businesstech]