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We’ve all been thinking it, but FNB senior property economist John Loos just confirmed it.

While the rest of South Africa sukkels with service delivery issues and poor governance, the Western Cape seems to be thriving. In fact, Loos said that the Western Cape’s economy is entering an almost “golden era” wherein it outperforms the rest of the country.

Jislaaik, Gatsby, you hear that?

The Western Cape councils are performing far better than elsewhere in the country and folks from all over are semi-grating here to experience better service delivery, which is doing wonders for our local economy.

Jozi, meanwhile, is dealing with load-shedding and water-shedding.

Daily Investor reports that the South African economy as a whole, including the property market, has been largely stagnant for a long time, but Loos reckons there are significant regional differences across the country that are keeping the Western Cape afloat.

“In the coastal metros, industrial property has performed significantly better than is the case in Johannesburg,” he said.

“Overall, the Western Cape market has been outperforming significantly, and that’s the sign of things to come for the foreseeable future.”

Do go on, old sport:

“Increasingly, businesses and individuals are looking for regions where things work, where municipal services and utilities work better, and they’re finding it there,” he said.

The increased semi-gration means that the Western Cape is gaining and retaining skilled labour and better business expansions.  Meanwhile, investor confidence is also better in the Western Cape, which means the province will outperform others economically and from a residential and commercial property perspective for the foreseeable future, said Loos.

Although the South African office market is facing challenges – you working from home, boet? – Cape Town still managed a 13% increase in rental prices compared to 2022.

The struggle in the property market is real with an oversupply of office space and rental prices that have stopped falling sharply like they did during the pandemic. But still, Cape Town performed the best in rental growth.

Pretoria and Johannesburg also saw some rental growth, but it was lower. Durban, on the other hand, experienced a decline in rental prices.

Ja, hey. Dit is lekker in die kaap.

[source:dailyinvestor]