The Northern Cape quietly delivered the best property returns in South Africa
The standout performer was the Northern Cape, where house prices surged by 18.3% in August compared with a year earlier.
Image: Freepik
South Africa’s residential property market kept edging higher in the year to August 2025, but where you live makes a bigger difference than ever.
And if it’s the Northern Cape, your home went up well beyond the national average, seemingly without a lick of paint.
National house prices rose by 5.8% compared with August last year, according to Statistics South Africa’s latest stats. In simple terms, a home worth R1 million a year ago would now be valued at about R1.058 million, without any renovations or upgrades.
Prices also continued to firm on a month-to-month basis, rising by 0.6% in August alone. That steady increase points to ongoing demand in the housing market, even as affordability pressures remain in the background.
According to the January BetterBond Property Brief, BetterBond’s home loan applications were 8.9% higher year-on-year in the last quarter of 2025, despite December seasonal slowdowns.
The real story, however, sits beneath the national average. Some provinces are powering ahead, while others are barely moving.
The Western Cape continues to stand out, with house prices up 8.6% year-on-year. A R1 million home there in August 2024 would now be worth roughly R1.086 million.
Limpopo also delivered strong growth of 10.6%, lifting a R1 million property to about R1.106 million over the year.
The standout performer was the Northern Cape, where prices surged by 18.3% compared with a year earlier.
That kind of increase means a R1 million property would now be worth approximately R1.183 million, making it the fastest-growing provincial housing market in the country over the period.
Elsewhere, price growth was far more subdued. In KwaZulu-Natal, prices rose by just 1.7% year on year, adding around R17 000 to the value of a R1 million home.
The Eastern Cape recorded growth of 2.3%, lifting a similar property to roughly R1.023 million. These gains are modest and underline how uneven the recovery in residential property values remains.
The picture across the major metros tells a similar story. Cape Town again led the pack, with prices climbing by 8.5% over the year. That translates into a gain of about R85,000 on a R1 million home.
Ekurhuleni also performed relatively well, with growth of 5.9%, pushing a R1 million property to around R1.059 million.
Johannesburg lagged behind those gains, with prices up 3.1% year-on-year. A R1 million house in the city would now be worth about R1.031 million.
Nelson Mandela Bay recorded the weakest metro performance, with prices rising by just 1.2%, adding roughly R12,000 to the value of a R1 million property.
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