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During the worst parts of the COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa, Cape Town’s CBD was hit hard.

Around 500 businesses in and around the city centre closed their doors in 2020, with cash-strapped residents moving out and seeking more affordable apartments in the Southern Suburbs and beyond.

As a result, the residential market took a lashing and the number of units listed for rental climbed by more than 160% from 2019.

In 2021, the inner city situation improved slightly, with more than half the apartments left empty during the first year of the pandemic being filled by the end of 2021.

This is according to the Cape Town Central City Improvement District’s (CCID) latest State of Cape Town Central City Report (SCCR), per Business Insider SA.

As of now, the city centre is filling up again quite nicely, despite rental prices skyrocketing.

The CCID recently revealed that just 56 apartments are available for rent in the inner city now, which is down from 475 open units at the end of 2020.

Bizcommunity notes how this is a particularly impressive achievement given the completion of both 16 on Bree and Foreshore Place during the course of last year which saw the addition of 562 new units to the central city residential market.

The new mixed-use property, The Fynbos, with 689 units due for completion before 2025, also added to the number of sales in the city.

This surge in the city means that prices followed the demand.

On average, compared to the year before, the price of apartments sold by the end of 2021 had increased by more than 26%.

The average monthly rental price also increased by up to 30%:

Studio/bachelor apartments: Monthly rentals ranged from R5,500 for a 38m² unit to a maximum of R21,500 for 66m² with the average monthly rental set at R9,027. There were 37 units available to rent in 2021 ranging in size from 11m² to 66m².

One-bedroom apartments: Monthly rentals ranged from R4,250 for an unspecified size to a maximum of R25,000 for 94m², with the average monthly rental set at R11,124. There were 88 units available to rent in 2021, ranging in size from 23m² to 107m².

Two-bedroom apartments: Monthly rentals ranged from R9,000 for 66m² to a maximum of R42,000 for 180m², with the average monthly rental set at R17,768. There were 74 units available to rent in 2021, ranging in size from 66m² to 110m².

Three-plus bedroom apartments: Monthly rentals ranged from R10,000 for 98m² to a maximum of R95,000 for 444m², with the average monthly rental set at R40,314. There were seven units available to rent in 2021, ranging in size from 75m² to 444m².

Since the number of available apartments in the CBD is becoming more scarce, rental prices are most likely going to increase even further in the coming months and years.

The CBD refers to all property within a 1,6 square kilometre range of the city centre.

[sources:businessinsider&bizcommunity]