One province recorded nearly half of all property sales above R2 million

The Western Cape continues to dominate South Africa’s high-value property market, accounting for nearly half of all transactions above R2 million and recording the highest average and peak residential sale prices.

According to Lightstone, residential property transaction values in South Africa rose by 12.5% year-on-year between January and October 2025 to R276 billion.

During the same period, the number of sales remained largely unchanged from the corresponding period in 2024.

Lightstone analysed sales between R30,000 and R50 million on the date of a property’s registration, focusing only on those where the full share was purchased.

Cases where a house was owned by two partners and one partner sold a share to the other were excluded from the analysis.

Property sales under R1 million accounted for 49% of transactions. The R1 million to R1.5 million (17%), R1.5 million to R2 million (11%), and R2 million to R2.5 million (7%) price bands made up 35% of the total.

Properties that sold for more than R2.5 million accounted for 16% of the market, with the top band – above R5 million – making up 4% of all sales.

The three largest provinces by sales accounted for nearly 80% of transactions: Gauteng at 40%, the Western Cape at 27%, and KwaZulu-Natal at 11%.

However, when it comes to value, the Western Cape performed better than all of the other provinces, Lightstone reported.

The first indicator is that while South Africa’s southernmost province accounted for 27% of all sales, the figure increases to 46% for properties exceeding R2 million.

The average price for properties selling for more than R2 million is highest in the Western Cape at just over R4.6 million. KwaZulu-Natal came in second at just under R3.6 million, marginally ahead of Gauteng at R3.5 million.

Bantry Bay in Cape Town recorded the top-selling price of R48 million in the first ten months of 2025, while Steyn City recorded the highest price of R33 million in Gauteng.

Simbithi in Salt Rock led the way in KwaZulu-Natal at R32.5 million. Of the other six provinces, St Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape recorded the country’s second-best price of R37 million.

The Western Cape leads high-value sales

The big three provinces – Gauteng, Western Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal – accounted for 78% of all sales, with Gauteng remaining South Africa’s top province in terms of transaction numbers, Lightstone reported.

However, the gulf between the Western Cape and the others becomes apparent when looking at the highest average sales prices in suburbs with at least ten transactions in 2025.

Llandudno emerged as the Western Cape’s leading suburb in terms of average price paid, at R23.7 million.

That is more than double the R9.8 million average in Westcliff, Gauteng’s leading suburb, and nearly four times the average of R6 million recorded in Zimbali, KwaZulu-Natal’s leading suburb.

St Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape led the rest of the provinces, with an average price paid of R5.5 million.

Lightstone also examined the profiles of buyers who purchased residential properties between January and October 2025.

Non-natural persons, including companies and trusts, made up 17% of transactions, marginally up from 16% in 2024. However, there were fewer first-time buyers.

This group made up 37% of all transactions, down from 40% in 2024. They also paid significantly less, on average, for their properties, at R1.05 million to R1.9 million.

Most buyers were aged between 30 and 45, and they spent on average just under R1.4 million on a property. Younger buyers (18 to 30 years of age) spent just under R1.2 million, while the 60 to 90 age band spent the most, on average, at R1.8 million.

First-time buyers outnumbered repeat buyers in the 18 to 30 age band, but in each of the other age bands, repeat buyers were in the majority.