27% of South African homeowners who sell to purchase a new home choose to do so in a different province – a notable increase on 2019’s 16%.
“In 2023, 50 000 homeowners participated in the sell-to-buy market. Gauteng and the Western Cape dominated this segment, accounting for 48% and 23% of transactions respectively, totalling just over 70% of the market. The remaining seven provinces made up the balance,” says Hayley Ivins-Downes, Managing Executive Real Estate at Lightstone.
Most sell-to-buy homeowners stay in the same province although the proportion has dipped across eight of SA’s nine provinces when comparing 2018/2019 to 2023/2024 with the Western Cape holding its ground (down to 87% from 89%), she says. “Repeat buyers staying in the same province fell by 10% in Gauteng, 9% in the Eastern Cape and Free State, 13% in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, and 15% in Limpopo.”
The Western Cape performs the best in the sell-to-buy category when it comes to the value of properties, with more than 65% of transactions in the R2 million to R3 million price band and more than 70% in the R3 million to R4 million and R4 million to R5 million price bands. Around 85% of properties are above R5 million in value with 70% of those moving to the Western Cape, ending up in higher-value assets.
“The Western Cape is the preferred choice for those switching provinces with the majority of its entrants (3 500) making the journey from Gauteng and 870 arriving from KwaZulu-Natal,” comments Ivins-Downes.
Around 1 600 homeowners from the six other provinces went to Gauteng, with a similar number going to the Western Cape.
When reviewing towns and cities – not municipalities – you get a sense of where South Africans are moving to, and from. Ten towns in the Western Cape lead the way in attracting homeowners from other provinces while on the other hand, eleven towns with the most homeowners leaving are in Gauteng.
Fourteen out of fifteen towns with net gains are in the Western Cape with the Eastern Cape’s Jeffrey’s Bay the outlier. In terms of net loss, twelve of the bottom fifteen places are taken by towns and cities in Gauteng, joined by Durban, Bloemfontein, and Emalahleni.
“Younger sell-to-buy homeowners tend to stay in Gauteng (80%) compared to older folk (60%), and of the elder buyers who leave, the Western Cape is the preferred destination. This is the pattern across other provinces too. Few homeowners leave the Western Cape,” she concludes.
