South Africa’s property landscape has changed significantly in the fifteen years Lightstone Property, a provider of comprehensive data, analytics and systems on property, has been partnering with the real estate sector.

And Lightstone Property has captured the changing landscape in a report to celebrate the period, which began in 2009 after South Africa’s 2000-2006 housing boom (when house prices rose by an average of 20% each year), but more critically came after the global financial market crash of 2008/9.



Hayley Ivins-Downes, Managing Executive Real Estate at Lightstone said the SA market has not yet recovered to pre-crash levels.

Four trends identified by Lightstone are indicative of a market which has mirrored the tough macro conditions of the period. They are:

  • Sales volumes have fallen, while nominal values have increased.

Transfers and values since 2009 at current Lightstone values



  • Returns on investment have been disappointing when Lightstone’s current values are adjusted for inflation.

Average purchase price value then and now



  • New buyers have not entered the market as would be expected.

Volume of First Time Buyers vs Repeat Buyers



  • Younger buyers have not come into the market as would be expected.

Age of buyers / volume / year




Ivins-Downes said two other trends identified by Lightstone were creative responses to lifestyle changes, partly driven by cost-of-living pressure, “crime and grime” and the increasing numbers of people who can work remotely, a feature which accelerated during and after Covid:

  • Demand has increased for Estates and Sectional Title properties

Volume of sales 2009 - 2023



  • Semigration has become an important feature, with the Western Cape the preferred choice for those moving from inland cities.

Semigration trend - province moving to



Ivins-Downes said the report looks at the data behind the trends and opportunities that have emerged against a backdrop of political and economic events, and Lightstone’s response to meeting the increasingly sophisticated property market’s growing demand for products and services. “The demand for data and insights has led to the rapid expansion of Lightstone’s product range which has dealt with every conceivable aspect of the market.”



Please download and read the full report here.