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It’s no secret that us Capetonians love to skinner about the rental prices in our city, and the latest rental property index research has proven that our moaning is certainly not just hot air.

While Cape Town did marginally better when we recently compared metro property rates between local areas, the prices in the Mother City are still a massive bugbear for renters.

In general, South Africans looking to rent a property in 2024 are facing higher costs, with the average monthly rent climbing to a whopping R8 654. This figure, revealed in the latest PayProp Rental Index, is R301 higher than the average rent for the same period last year. Ouch.

Property management software company PayProp provides this quarterly Rental Index report to analyse trends in SA’s residential rental market and subsequently shares this comprehensive data overview with the public. Thanks to them, we can see significant changes in residential rental prices in SA, and be affirmed that our Western Cape worries are grounded in empirical research.

It’s not surprising that our province stands out with the highest average rent in South Africa, at R10 300 per month.

This average rate is R1 000 more than the next most expensive province. According to PayProp, this huge leap is due to rental prices in the Western Cape seeing a year-on-year increase of 4.3%, surpassing the national average growth rate of 3.8%.

In contrast, the North West has clocked in with SA’s lowest average rental price, at R6 301. Surprisingly, this comes despite the province experiencing the highest rental increase in the country, with a significant 9.8% year-on-year rise.

Additionally, the most notable rental increases across the country include the Free State, where the average rental price is now R6 927. This marks a substantial increase of R579 from the first quarter of last year. The province saw a 9.1% year-on-year rise, the second fastest in the country.

While the Eastern Cape has a slightly higher rental price average than the Free State, at R7 021, the province boasted a low year-on-year increase of 5.6%, dropping from a 7.3% increase noted in 2023. Hence, the Eastern Cape remains one of the more affordable provinces, with the third lowest average rent.

Gauteng, on the other hand, is on the verge of becoming the third province to surpass an average rent of R9 000 per month. Rental growth in Gauteng is relatively low, at 3.5%, and is slightly below the national average.

While the rest of SA’s province’s remained relatively stable this quarter when it comes to rental prices, it’s clear that we are forking out the big bucks in the Western Cape for our living spaces.

Perhaps we should take the lead from the Croatian millennials who have resorted to building on top of parents’ abodes to avoid increasing property prices. 

That being said, not even rental prices could make me leave the Mother City, but I may be slightly biased…

[source:capetownetc]