South African Property Market - 17% More Property Transfers During Third Quarter 2019 vs 3rd Quarter

The South African residential property market is showing good recovery signs with a 17% increase in the number of property transfers (both bonded and not bonded) recorded at the Deeds Office between July and September 2019 relative to the same period during 2018 - and also up by 8% from the second quarter 2019 - to 70 717 transfers.

The biggest share of transfers took place in the home market segment up to R1,5 million - consisting of 80% of all property sales in South Africa

Homes below R400,000 continue to account for the largest portion of sales, at 31% of the total transfers. Year-on-year, this price segment saw a 15% increase (or 2,800 more transfers) on the figures for Q3 2018. 

Homes between R400,000-R800,000 makes up at 24% of the total transfers. Year-on-year, this price segment saw an 18% increase (or 2,636 more transfers) on the figures for Q3 2018. 

Homes between R800,000 and R1.5m formed 25% of the total transfers. Year-on-year, this price segment saw a 20% increase (or 2,904 more transfers) on the figures for Q3 2018. 

Homes between R1.5m to R3m accounted for 15% of transfers and grew by 21% (or 1,877 more) year-on-year in number of transfers. 

Making up the smallest portion of total transfers are homes priced above R3m. At just 5% of the total transfers, this segment grew by 7% (or 231 more) year-on-year in the number of transfers.

According to Lightstone Property data, a total of 49,637 bond registrations were recorded at the Deeds Office over the period of July to September 2019, totalling an amount of R53,896,783,000. This translates into a 10% increase in the amount of bonds registered since Q2 2019 and an 24% increase since Q3 2018.

Types Of Property Sold:

Of the 70,717 transfers, a total of 35,495 freehold properties and 17,850 sectional title units were sold countrywide (figures exclude estates, farms, and land only transfers). Year-on-year, the number of freehold properties sold increased by 17% while sectional titles saw a 23% increase when compared to Q3 2018.

While sectional titles sales grew faster than freehold properties, the national median price of a sectional title grew by just 0.3% to R1,023,549 from the R1,020,330 in Q3 2018, and dropped by 1% since last quarter. 

On the other hand, the current national median price of a freehold home has grown to R1,116,234 which is a 6.5% increase on the median asking price for Q3 2018 (R1,004,733). However, when compared to last quarter, the median asking price dropped by 3%.