Between January and October 2025, residential property transaction values in South Africa rose by 12.5% year-on-year to R276 billion, while the number of sales remained largely unchanged from the corresponding period in 2024.
Lightstone analysed sales between R30k and R50m, on the date of a property's registration, and only those where the full share was purchased, not where a house was owned by two partners and one partner sold a share to the other.
Residential property sales - January to October 2024 - 2025
Number of sales per price band: 2025
Property sales under R1m accounted for 49% of transactions. The R1m - R1.5m (17%), R1.5m - R2m (11%) and R2m - R2.5m (7%) price bands made up 35%. Properties which sold for in excess of R2.5m accounted for 16% of the market, with the top band - above R5m - making up 4% of all sales.
The big three provinces in terms of sales accounted for nearly 80% of transactions, with Gauteng at 40%, Western Cape at 27% and KwaZulu-Natal at 11%. But when it comes to value, the Western Cape performs better than the rest. The first indicator is that while South Africa's southern-most province accounts for 27% of all sales, the figure jumps to 46% of sales for properties greater than R2m.
Number of sales per province: 2025
Number of sales above R2m per province: 2025
Average selling price / average price > R2m: 2025
The average price for properties selling for more than R2m is highest in the Western Cape at just over R4.6m, and KwaZulu-Natal comes in second at just under R3.6m, marginally ahead of Gauteng at R3.5m.
Bantry Bay in Cape Town recorded the top selling price in the first ten months of 2025 of R48m, while Steyn City recorded the highest price of R33m in Gauteng and Simbithi in Salt Rock led the way in KwaZulu-Natal at R32.5m. Of the other six provinces, St Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape recorded the country's second best price of R37m.
The top five in the big three … and the best of the rest
While the big three provinces - Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal - accounted for 78% of all sales, and Gauteng remains South Africa's top province in terms of transaction numbers, the gulf between the Western Cape and the others becomes apparent when we look at the highest average sales prices in suburbs with at least ten transactions in 2025.
Llandudno is the Western Cape's leading suburb in terms of average price paid at R23.7m, and that's more than double the R9.8m average in Westcliff, Gauteng's leading suburb, and nearly four times the average of R6m recorded in Zimbali, KwaZulu-Natal's leading suburb. St Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape led the rest with an average of R5.5m.
Who's buying?
Non-natural persons - including companies and trusts - made up 17% of transactions, marginally up on 16% in 2024. But there were less First Time Buyers (FTBs) (37% of all transactions down from 40% in 2024) and they paid significantly less, on average, for their property (R1.05m to R1.9m).
Most buyers were aged between 30 - 45, and they spent on average just under R1.4m on a property. Younger buyers (18-30) spent just under R1.2m, while the 60 - 90 age band spent the most, on average, at R1.8m.
Age of buyers: 2025
FTBs outnumbered repeat buyers in the 18 - 30 age band, but in each of the other age bands repeat buyers were in the majority.
Age of first time buyers vs repeat buyers: 2025
