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.