Cape Town vs Johannesburg vs Durban: how house prices are performing

South Africa’s major property markets are moving at very different speeds, with Cape Town recording significantly stronger house prices than both Johannesburg and Durban.

The latest figures from the Pam Golding Residential Property Index and Lightstone show that the gap has widened considerably, particularly between Cape Town and the other two major metros.

National house price inflation reached 5.4% in July 2026, averaging 4.9% for the year to date.

But buyers in Cape Town have seen a much stronger increase in property prices.

Cape Town leads the major metros

Cape Town recorded house price growth of 11.4% in the year to July 2026, according to Lightstone statistics cited by Pam Golding Properties.

That was substantially higher than the growth recorded in Johannesburg and Durban.

Johannesburg recorded house price growth of 2.3%, while eThekwini, which includes Durban, recorded 2.1%.

The difference is also visible at a provincial level.

The Western Cape recorded average house price growth of 10.6% in the year to July, compared with 3% in Gauteng and 2.6% in KwaZulu-Natal.

Johannesburg is growing, but at a slower pace

Johannesburg’s property market is showing signs of recovery, although growth remains considerably below Cape Town’s level.

The data shows that performance varies between individual Johannesburg suburbs, with affordability, location and the strength of local economic centres influencing demand.

The city’s premier suburbs are also attracting buyers looking for value. In areas such as Hyde Park and Sandhurst, buyers can acquire substantially larger homes on bigger stands than they might find in comparable prime Cape Town locations.

Durban is also seeing slower growth

Durban’s eThekwini market recorded growth of 2.1% in house prices in the year to July.

That puts it slightly behind Johannesburg and well below Cape Town.

However, the wider KwaZulu-Natal market recorded average growth of 2.6%, with stronger activity in some of the province’s coastal markets.

Pam Golding has previously highlighted demand in areas north of Durban, including Durban North, uMhlanga and Sibaya, as well as the wider KZN North Coast.

What is driving the difference?

According to property experts, Cape Town’s strong performance is increasingly linked to sustained demand from people relocating to the Western Cape for lifestyle and economic reasons.

Affordability is nevertheless becoming a bigger consideration, with some buyers broadening their searches beyond Cape Town into surrounding towns and coastal areas where they can potentially get more for their money.

The property market is therefore becoming increasingly divided, with prices and demand varying significantly depending on the city and individual suburb.