Property Brief – March 2025

The latest BetterBond Property Brief - March 2025 is out!

The residential property market is showing promising signs of renewed momentum in 2025, with home loan activity on the rise and economic conditions improving. The recent interest rate cut has provided a mild boost, with the BetterBond home loan index rising by 6.7% quarter-on-quarter and 8.3% year-on-year in the first two months of the year.

While overall home prices have seen a modest decline of 0.5% year-on-year, first-time buyers have experienced price growth of 2.5% over the same period. Encouragingly, deposit requirements for home loans have eased for most buyers, making homeownership more accessible, although first-time buyers saw a marginal quarter-on-quarter increase in required deposits.

Regionally, Johannesburg’s South-Eastern suburbs remain the top area for home loans granted, while Free State & the Northern Cape recorded the highest year-on-year growth at 29%. In total, home loans granted increased by 8.2% over the past 12 months, reinforcing the positive momentum in the market.

The full list of data points included in this Property Brief is as follows:

In the Economist’s Notes, Dr Roelof Botha highlights that while interest rate cuts have started to encourage homebuying activity, further reductions may be needed to drive significant growth. He also notes that South Africa’s economy is showing resilience, with job creation surpassing 17 million for the first time. Additionally, the country is on track for removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list. This could further strengthen investor confidence.

If you would like to review all the issues of the BetterBond Property Brief, you can download them all here. You can download the Property Brief - February 2025 below: