New World Wealth, a research group, has published its 2020 wealth report for South Africa and it has revealed where the most expensive streets and suburbs are in the country.
It comes as no surprise that most of the expensive property and wealthiest streets can be found in the Cape Town area. Umhlanga does make an appearance with Lagoon drive as one of the wealthiest streets.
The group uses the price of the property per square metre in the prime property areas nationwide. The report not only revealed the wealthiest suburbs property-wise, but it also showed that South Africa’s residential property market has performed poorly over the review period (2009 to 2019) with average prices declining by around 36% in US dollar terms.
The rand's depreciated during this period contributed to the decline.
Other possible reasons for the drop include:
- A dip in the top-end market. In particular, houses valued at over R10 million have become very difficult to sell;
- Increased utility bills (rates, electricity & water), which have risen by more than three times over the 10 year period. This has discouraged people from buying property and forced many people to downsize;
- High transfer duties of up to 13%. Notably, for properties valued at R10 million and above, transfer duty exceeds R900,000;
- High crime levels, which have deterred people from buying free-standing houses in particular;
- Threats of land redistribution without compensation, which have discouraged people from making large scale property purchases;
- Second homes no longer desirable – declining returns and rising costs have discouraged people from buying holiday homes.
“Notably, luxury apartments have been the best performing residential segment in SA over the past decade as many buyers have moved away from houses,” New World Wealth said.
Below the group outlined the most expensive streets and suburbs in South Africa.
Note: Figures for 2019. Translated at R14.00/US$.
The most expensive streets in South Africa
| Street | Suburb, City | US$ per square meter | ZAR per sqm |
| Victoria Road | Clifton and Bantry Bay, Cape Town | $5 700 | R80 000 |
| The Ridge & Cliff Road | Clifton, Cape Town | $5 600 | R78 000 |
| Nettelton Road | Clifton, Cape Town | $5 400 | R76 000 |
| Clifton Road | Clifton, Cape Town | $5 400 | R75 000 |
| V&A Marina | City Bowl, Cape Town | $5 100 | R72 000 |
| Lagoon Drive | Umhlanga | $2 900 | R40 000 |
| Beachyhead Drive | Plettenberg Bay | $2 600 | R37 000 |
The most expensive suburbs in South Africa
| Suburb | Province | US$ per square meter | ZAR per sqm |
Clifton | Western Cape | $5 100 | R72 000 |
Bantry Bay | Western Cape | $4 800 | R67 000 |
Fresnaye | Western Cape | $3 900 | R54 000 |
Camps Bay & Bakoven | Western Cape | $3 500 | R49 000 |
Llandudno | Western Cape | $3 300 | R46 000 |
