Cape Town house prices up 12% as city-centre rents run at almost double Johannesburg's
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Stats SA's June 2026 Residential Property Price Index puts Cape Town annual house-price inflation at 12% against 4.9% in Johannesburg, while Numbeo estimates put city-centre one-bedroom rent at R17,188 a month against R8,620.
Cape Town residential property prices rose 12% in the year to June 2026, more than twice Johannesburg's 4.9%, according to Statistics South Africa's latest Residential Property Price Index, while separate estimates put city-centre rents in the Mother City at almost double those in Johannesburg.
The index shows residential property prices across South Africa's metropolitan areas rose 8% over the 12 months. Cape Town recorded the highest annual increase among the metros covered, followed by Ekurhuleni at 7.2%, with Johannesburg at 4.9%. At provincial level, the Western Cape recorded inflation of 11.6% against 4.9% in Gauteng.
The gap held across property types. Sectional title prices, which cover apartments and townhouses, rose 11.7% year on year in Cape Town against 1.4% in Johannesburg. Freehold prices rose 10.4% in Cape Town and 9% in Johannesburg, while the index for resold properties climbed 11.8% in Cape Town against 4.3% in Johannesburg. Between May and June, Cape Town's index rose 1% against 0.4% in Johannesburg.
A separate Numbeo comparison for June 2026 put the estimated monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Cape Town's city centre at R17,188, against R8,620 in Johannesburg. Outside the city centre the estimates were R10,679 and R6,936. A three-bedroom apartment in the city centre was estimated at R29,010 a month in Cape Town and R17,908 in Johannesburg, and R20,847 against R14,953 outside the centre.
Numbeo also estimated purchase prices at R37,954 per square metre in Cape Town's city centre against R17,264 in Johannesburg, and R24,793 against R12,595 outside the centre. Its estimated average monthly net salaries were close, at R27,541 in Cape Town and R27,795 in Johannesburg, meaning the estimated city-centre one-bedroom rent equals about 62% of the Cape Town figure against 31% in Johannesburg.
The Numbeo figures are based on crowdsourced and collected price information and are estimates rather than official valuations or verified rental transactions, and the salary comparison is illustrative rather than a measure of household expenditure. Stats SA compiles its index from transaction information obtained from the Office of the Chief Registrar of Deeds through a third-party data provider, covering new and existing residential properties, and cautions that the latest 12 months are subject to revision.