Mixed fortunes for Joburg’s residential property market over the past six years

Residential property sales volumes in Johannesburg have fallen since 2019, although sales in 2024 increased when compared to 2023. The average price of property sales has increased over the period, although it did fall in 2024, and the total value of sales has been constant over the period.

Lightstone analysed purchases between R30 000 and R50m in Johannesburg for the period 2019-2024. Sales volumes have fallen from 37 000 in 2019 to under 35 000 in 2024 (see graph below), although 2024 was up on the six-year low of just under 32 000 in 2023.

Residential sales volumes in Joburg: 2019 – 2024

Average price paid in Joburg: 2019 – 2024

The average price of transactions in Johannesburg has remained relatively static over the period, from just under R1.3m in 2019 to just over R1.3m in 2024, but did rise to over R1.4m in 2023.

The total value of sales in Johannesburg has fluctuated over the past six years but has stabilised to around R47 000m in 2023 and 2024.

Total sales value in R millions in Joburg: 2019 – 2024

Properties have spent more time on market over the period, rising from 79 days in 2019 (see graph below) to 97 in 2024.

Average time on market in Joburg in days: 2019 – 2024

Time on the market: Joburg’s biggest sellers, and quickest

Discovery in Roodepoort is the quickest selling of Johannesburg’s suburbs at 52 days on the market, followed by Amorosa in Roodepoort (54) and Bassonia (57) in Johannesburg’s southern suburbs. Bryanston in Sandton topped the number of properties sold at 157, which took an average 108 days to sell. Parkhurst was next (84 properties, 70 days on the market) and Douglasdale was third (79 properties sold, 77 days on average on the market).

Time on the market for fastest selling and biggest selling suburbs in 2024

Houses in Super Luxury Areas were consistently on the market for the longest time in each of the six years, while Mid Value Areas spent the shortest amount of time on the market in 2019 and 2021, Affordable in 2020, 2023 and 2024, and High Value Areas in 2022.

Time on market for areas of different value

Properties listed at R5m or more spent more time on the market in each of the six years reviewed, although only marginally so in 2024. Properties listed at R500k-R1m spent the shortest time on the market in 2019, and the price buckets changed positions each year after that with under R500k in 2020, R1m-R1.5m in 2021, R1m-R1.5m and R1.5m-R2m in 2022, R1m-R1.5m in 2023 and R1.5m-R2m in 2024.