SA property stock doubles in 30 years of democracy

Residential property stock registered at the Deeds Office has more than doubled in South Africa’s first 30 years of democracy, rising from 2.7m units in 1994 to 7.2m this year.

Hayley Ivins-Downes, Managing Executive Real Estate at Lightstone, a provider of comprehensive data, analytics and systems on property, automotive and business assets, said data from the Deeds Office indicated that much of the new residential stock added between 1994 and 1998 was RDP/subsidised housing.

Hundreds of thousands of units were added between 1994 and 1999 in a boom period for housing development in South Africa. Ivins-Downes said the low development mark was 334 000 units in 1994 with a high of nearly 447 000 in 1998.

But the momentum dropped after 1999, and a second phase between 1999 and 2005 recorded a high of nearly 209 000 in 2003 and a low of 165 000 the following year. “In 2007 new residential stock numbers dropped to 112 000 before reaching a 30-year low of just under 55 000 in 2020. In this third phase, new residential stock has not risen above 87 000 units”, she said.

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