News

A hand drops a ballot marked 'Local Elections 4 Nov 2026' into a ballot box painted in the South African flag, between Cape Town with Table Mountain and the Johannesburg skyline, beside road signs to Cape Town and Johannesburg and icons for service delivery, infrastructure, security, housing supply, development approvals and property values

By Neale PetersenNovember 2, 2026

Ahead of the 4 November local elections, Seeff and Sentinel Homes explain how municipal performance could reshape property values and semigration.

Infographic: SA REITs +2.4% in October, year to date +6.5%, bonds +5.7% and equities -3.6%, beside wooden blocks spelling REITs, rising stacks of coins and a green arrow over a share chart, with glass office buildings and a city skyline at dusk; along the bottom: 18 of 22 counters higher, 11.09% distribution growth, strong balance sheets, R1.25bn Fairvest capital raise and budget supports bond market

Commercial

SA REITs gain 2.4% in October, outpacing equities and bonds

SA REITs returned 2.4% in October, lifting year-to-date gains to 6.5% ahead of bonds and equities. Download the October 2026 SA REIT Chart Book.

A smiling Black businesswoman in a black blazer holds up a house key on a house-shaped key ring and a tablet in front of apartment blocks, with Table Mountain and the Cape Town skyline at sunset behind her and a glowing +146% above rising bars and an arrow

Residential

Black women drive 146% surge in SA property investors

Lightstone research shows Black women drove 146% growth in SA's private property investors over a decade, as the investor base grew 22% to over 140,000.

Commercial

Rebosis collapse: How debt wiped out REIT shareholders

Rebosis went from a R9bn-plus REIT to delisted shares worth almost nothing. Alistair Anderson on the debt, related-party deal and UK write-down behind it.

A mud-stained yellow hard hat and rolled-up building plans on a construction site at sunset, with a half-built concrete frame and scaffolding behind, and a man in black holding a wad of R200 notes behind his back

Commercial

Construction mafia costs industry 63bn rand as enforcement lags

Construction-site extortion cost SA's building industry R63bn in 2026, yet 8,111 reported cases led to only 3,362 arrests. What it means for developers.

Aerial view of a walled development of three-storey brick apartment blocks with rooftop solar panels, surrounded by dense township housing under a blue sky

ResidentialNovember 2, 2026

Alleyroads unravels: R5bn housing portfolio faces asset sales

A family of three seen from behind looking at a modern house with Table Mountain beyond, next to a wooden house outline with arrows pointing in to a smaller home, and two model houses on growing stacks of coins with a red arrow rising between them

Partner ContentNovember 2, 2026

R1m buys less house as SA property prices lag inflation

Artist's impression of the 35-storey ThirtyFour18 tower, with FOUR18 signage near the top, rising above Cape Town's Foreshore with Table Mountain behind it

ResidentialOctober 29, 2026

Cape Town's R2.5bn Tower signals major investment boom

Three panellists seated and a speaker at the GBCSA lectern on stage at the Green Building Convention 2026, beneath a screen reading 'Seeing the Green Savings: Research on How Green Apartment Residents Think About their Utility Spend'

ResidentialOctober 29, 2026

Green Homes could save owners R21,000 a year

Two-storey grey-and-white industrial building with tall windows showing a solar-panel graphic, a row of shrubs along the front and a shaded parking area, in Airport Industria, Cape Town

CommercialOctober 29, 2026

Industrial Property: Where R30m buys the best returns

Delegates and pledgers on stage at the 2026 KwaZulu-Natal Investment Conference, in front of a screen showing total pledged investment of R124,576bn, 49 pledges and 337 816 jobs

ResidentialOctober 28, 2026

R3bn Bahari Bay signals New Growth for KZN South Coast

Golden Key apartment block in Die Bult, Potchefstroom: two-storey face-brick building with a grey entrance arch, an open staircase and round clipped trees along a paved path

CommercialOctober 28, 2026

New Medical School boosts Potchefstroom property outlook

Aerial view of a new housing development, with cleared plots and a freshly tarred cul-de-sac beside an established suburb of tiled-roof houses with solar panels

ResidentialOctober 27, 2026

SA housing construction: The provinces investors are missing

LegalOctober 27, 2026

PPRA: Estate access fees face scrutiny as FFC deadline nears

Render of Menlyn Park Apartments' Gobie Street: white apartment blocks either side of a landscaped street with trees, parked cars and people walking

ResidentialOctober 27, 2026

R850m Menlyn development to deliver 1,200 rental homes

A 'For Sale' sign in front of modern white houses with Table Mountain and the Cape Town city bowl behind, under the headline 'SA housing market holds firm as banks compete for buyers' and panels reading 5% house price growth year-on-year, -0.83% best bank discounts since 2009 and 2.1% home loan applications up quarter-on-quarter

FinanceOctober 26, 2026

SA housing market holds firm as banks compete for buyers

Lephalale Mall: large teal letters spelling Lephalale Mall on a stone gabion wall in front of the single-storey centre, with Game, Wimpy, Checkers, Crazy Plastics and Rochester signage under a blue sky

CommercialOctober 26, 2026

R2bn Dipula - Moolman deal clears key regulatory hurdle

Architectural render of Pinelands Village on a street corner: a Checkers store with a patterned green facade, outdoor seating and planters, shoppers on the pavement and cars on the surrounding roads

CommercialOctober 26, 2026

Rapfund's new Pinelands retail hub lands Checkers, Dis-Chem

Wooden blocks spelling REIT beside tiles for real estate, investment, trust and tax benefits, books labelled insurance, property portfolio, tax planning and investment strategy, a REIT conversion report and pen, with a glass office building and Table Mountain at sunset behind

CommercialOctober 26, 2026

New REIT rules open the door for insurers' property assets

Norbert Sasse, former Group CEO of Growthpoint Properties, in a light blue open-collared shirt on a balcony above the V&A Waterfront harbour, with Table Mountain and Lion's Head behind him

People in PropertyOctober 23, 2026

Norbert Sasse: The man who built a R160bn property giant

A Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS) sign beside binders labelled governance, financials, levies, rules and communication, wooden house blocks marked parking, penalties, pets and people, a gavel and a dispute resolution notebook, with apartment blocks behind

Asset ManagementOctober 23, 2026

Why Community Schemes end up in CSOS disputes

Aerial view of Central Blue Shopping Centre in Blue Downs, Cape Town: a long single-storey row of shops behind a full car park, with a KFC drive-through in the foreground and housing stretching to the hills under a grey sky

CommercialOctober 23, 2026

Abland opens fully let 8,000m² retail hub in Cape Town

Quintin Rossi, CEO of Spear REIT, smiling in a light grey blazer and black open-collared shirt in a modern lobby with vertical light panels behind him

CommercialOctober 22, 2026

Spear REIT beats forecasts as R8.8bn portfolio expands

Composite image of National Treasury's 2026 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, a fuel nozzle in a car's tank, a wooden model house beside stacks of coins and a set of house keys, and a city skyline at sunset

Research ReportsOctober 22, 2026

Budget relief won't fix SA's homeownership crisis

The Maestro Sky Lounge at an Africrest development: a residents' lounge with café tables, orange sofas and a pool table, paper flower lights under a wooden slatted ceiling and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city

ResidentialOctober 22, 2026

Why community is becoming rental property's secret weapon

A wooden model house beside rising stacks of coins and a set of house keys on a desk, with a 'Home loan approved' form and a pen in front and a city skyline with suburban homes at sunset behind

FinanceOctober 22, 2026

Why now could be the right time to buy property

Composite image of a South African flag, stacks of coins under a red percentage sign with a downward arrow, a rising chart, a fuel nozzle in a car's tank and a city skyline above modern homes at sunset

FinanceOctober 21, 2026

Budget relief welcomed, but property needs lower rates

Aerial view of the Massmart Distribution Centre in Brackengate, Cape Town, its large warehouse roof covered in rows of solar panels, with loading bays and roads around it

CommercialOctober 20, 2026

Redefine's R106m solar project powers Cape Town properties

Rows of granite headstones with flowers and small statues on a green lawn, under trees and a flowering jacaranda, at one of Calgro M3's memorial parks

ResidentialOctober 20, 2026

Calgro's Memorial Parks surge as housing growth stalls

Artist's impression of a large Shree Property Holdings logistics warehouse with loading bays, trucks and parking, beside a road in an industrial area under a blue sky

CommercialOctober 20, 2026

Shree unveils R2bn Durban Industrial expansion

Illustrative image of Cape Town at sunset: Table Mountain behind the city, a glass office building and terrace, a logistics warehouse with trucks, new apartment blocks, and white arrows rising over the skyline

NewsOctober 19, 2026

SA Property’s next Growth Cycle: Where capital will flow

Illustrative image: a young man with a backpack on a balcony looks out over apartment blocks, office towers and a busy street at sunset, with mountains behind the city

FinanceOctober 19, 2026

The Right Property Can Build a Lasting Business

A long, white single-storey Melrose home with a green roof and a deep columned veranda, behind a wide lawn framed by mature trees, a garden bench and a lamp post

ResidentialOctober 19, 2026

R27m Melrose sale highlights Joburg's luxury demand

Data Hub

Full Snapshot

Repo rate (SARB)
Monetary Policy Committee rate · 2 Nov 2026
7.25%
+0.25pp on 25 Sep 2026
Prime lending rate
Standard bank variable rate · 2 Nov 2026
10.75%
+0.25pp on 25 Sep 2026
Inflation (CPI)
Consumer price index (YoY) · Sep 2026
4.5%
+0.1pp from 4.4% in Aug 2026
Rand / US dollar
ECB reference rate · 2 Nov 2026
R16.64to $1
+0.06% vs 26 Oct (R16.63)
National house price index
(Stats SA HPI, YoY) · May 2026
8.2%
National house price growth
(Lightstone Index, YoY) · Sep 2026
5.9%
Average national rent
(All residential properties) · Q2 2026
R9,715per month
+4.6% YoY (Q2 2026)
National rental growth
(All residential properties, YoY) · Q2 2026
5.2%
+0.5pp QoQ (Q2 2026)
SA REIT sector
Total return (October 2026)
+2.4%
SA REIT sector
Total return (2026 YTD)
+6.5%
SA REIT distribution growth
Rolling 12 months (YoY) · Oct 2026
11.09%
Unchanged from 11.09% in Sep 2026
SA long bond yield
Month-end (October 2026)
8.72%
−0.20pp from 8.92% in Sep 2026