South Africa's rental market sees strongest growth as average rental stays above R9100

SOUTH Africa's residential rental market has kicked off 2025 with a remarkable performance, showcasing the best results in several years.

- SIPHELELE DLUDLA

According to the latest PayProp Rental Index, average national rental growth reached 5.6% in the first quarter of this year, marking the strongest quarterly increase since the third quarter of 2017 and pushing the average rent to R9 132.

Notably, February saw a staggering year-on-year rental increase of 6%, the highest monthly growth recorded since August 2017, indicating a burgeoning recovery in the sector.

This impressive rise comes alongside a favourable inflation landscape as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation fell from 3.2% in both January and February to a low of 2.7% in March.

The resulting gap between rental growth and inflation is significant—standing at 2.8% in both February and March—denoting the most marked real-terms rental gain witnessed in the current growth cycle.

Landlords are beginning to reclaim losses incurred during previous market slowdowns, spurred by a surge in tenant demand and broad positive growth across provinces.

In contrast to what has been witnessed in previous years, the first quarter of 2025 did not present the usual seasonal spike in rental arrears.