Cheapest province to rent property in South Africa

In South Africa’s recovering rental growth market, the North West stands out. With an average price of R6,798, it is the cheapest province in which to rent a property.

Payprop’s 2024 Rental Index, which tracked rental trends throughout South Africa, revealed that in Q4 2024, South Africa’s rental growth recovered, growing 5.2% yearly.

This brought the average rental price to over R9,000 for the first time. Rent in Q4 was R453 higher than a year earlier and R195 above the previous quarter, averaging R9,051.

“Rental growth recovered as inflation experienced a long-awaited downturn, easing the pressure on tenants’ finances and giving landlords and agents their first real-time rental growth in years,” Payprop said.

“That signals growing confidence in South Africa’s residential rental market.” Landlords and agents had been holding off on significant rental increases in the wake of the pandemic, prioritising reliable payments instead.

However, with tenant demand high and the economy recovering, the industry is well set for continued real-terms growth.

This is also evidenced by the fact that the stronger rental market in 2024 shifted more tenants into higher price brackets.

Although the largest group of tenants still paid R5,000 to R7,500 a month, this share fell from 31.2% in Q4 2023 to 28.9% in Q4 2024.

At the same time, all the higher rental price brackets grew over the period. In Q4 2024, 51.4% of tenants paid R7,500 or more in rent, compared to 47.6% a year earlier.

Unsurprisingly, the Western Cape had South Africa’s highest average rental prices in 2024. As of Q4 2024, the average rent in the Western Cape was R11,141, more than R2,000 above the national average

High rental growth during the year increased the share of high-priced properties in the province. Now, more homes are renting for more than R15,000 than R5,000 to R7,500 due to a fall of over 5% in the cheaper bracket.

The cheapest provinces in South Africa

Most provinces closely followed the national distribution of rental prices, including Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and Limpopo.

However, some provinces stood out for offering affordable property rentals, with their prices largely distributed below the national average.

Tenants in the Eastern Cape were the most likely to find affordable rentals. In this province, 11.1% of property costs are between R1,000 and R2,500. This is notably higher than the 2.8% at national level.

Additionally, 21.6% of rental properties in the Eastern Cape cost between R2,500 and R5,000, compared to 14.9% at the national level.

Even in the Eastern Cape, though, the proportion of properties in all brackets below R7,500 shrank in 2024. As of Q4 2024, the average rent in the Eastern Cape was R7,297.

The Free State also stood out for its affordable housing. Uniquely, the province had more properties in the R2,500 to R5,000 price bracket in Q4 2024 than it did a year earlier.

These low-priced properties made up almost a third of the local rental market. However, the share of properties in the R5,000 to R7,500 bracket fell while the higher-priced brackets expanded.

As of the final quarter of 2024, the average rent in the Free State was R7,216. This is R1,835 below the national average rent.

However, one province had an even lower rental average. As of Q4 2024, the average rent in the North West was R6,798, making it the most affordable province for rentals in South Africa.

That means that there is a 48.41% difference between the average rental price in the North West and the Western Cape, the country’s most expensive rental province.

Notably, 43.7% of properties in the North West fell within the R2,500 to R5,000 price bracket. This was primarily due to the province’s high number of student rentals.

That meant that it was the only province where this was the largest price bracket. Even so, the share of properties in this price range shrank by 6% year on year in Q4 2024, while higher-priced brackets grew.