If you are living a renters life like most of us, it’s important to know how your average rent compares to those in other areas of South Africa. You may be surprised by which area has the most expensive rental market, I know I was. 

The rental index of 2019 has been published by PayProp and it seems that the rental growth rate has been good at a 3.7% year-on-year growth. In 2016 and 2017 the market was suffering but the first quarter of 2018 brought in the first uptick in rental markets growth in 2 years.

Why is the Rental Market Showing Growth?

It seems to be a negative causing a positive in this case. The election, Eskom troubles, price increases, political scandals have caused great uncertainty for South Africans. I’m sure you have noticed an uptake in South Africans emigrating, there has been an increase of 45% of citizens leaving compared to 2015.

Approximately 400,000 high-income professionals have left South Africa. South African citizens are unsure about the country and their future here which means fewer people are buying houses and more citizens are renting. If this trend continues it will ultimately increase the demand for rentals pushing up the prices in 2019.

The data supplied by PayProp’s shows that the Western Cape is the most expensive province to rent, in South Africa with an average rental price of R9030.

About 30% of residents rent in the Western Cape fall into the R5,000 – R7,500 bracket, with 30% priced above R10,000 and over 11% priced above R15,000 – the highest percentage in this band.

The North West has the cheapest average rent of R5031 and the biggest amount of residents that fall into the same bracket of R2500-R5000.

The Western Cape: Average Rent R9030

Most rentals in the Western Cape fall between R5000-R7500 but as a big portion of rentals are more than R7500 it pushes the average rent up to R9030 making it the most expensive province to rent a property in.

Gauteng – R8000

The second most expensive province to rent in is Gauteng. Close to 40% of Gauteng’s rentals cost between R5000-R7500. A big portion (20%) of rentals in Gauteng cost more than R10 000.

KZN – R7975

The 3rd most expensive province to rent in is KwaZulu-Natal. KZN surprisingly has the biggest percentage of renters that pay over R15 000.

Here are the rest of the provinces in order of most expensive to cheapest to rent in:

Northern Cape – R7817

Mpumalanga – R7298

Limpopo – R7117

Free State – R6054

Eastern Cape – R5694

North West – R5031

The North West is the cheapest to rent in with an average rent costing R5031. 

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