These cities in South Africa are becoming more affordable to live in

Johannesburg and Cape Town have become more affordable for buyers and renters.

A UK-based Online Mortgage Advisor study, with data from Numbeo, investigated if properties are becoming more or less affordable across over 200 cities worldwide by comparing the average price per square meter for a flat in the city centre against the average annual take-home pay.

According to the study, Johannesburg is the city where buying property has become the most affordable for local residents since 2018 when looking on a square meter basis.

In 2018, the average Johannesburg worker could afford 14.6 sqm of property, but this rose to 23.2 in 2022 – an increase of 8.6 sqm.

Edmonton (Canada) and Denver (USA) completed the top three, as residents could afford 8.1 and 5.2 more sqm, respectively.

It also became easier to buy in Cape Town, with residents able to afford 1.6 extra sqm from 2018 to 2022 – the 16th best overall.

The study also looked at the cities where rent has become more or less affordable for the average worker by looking at the percentage of an average monthly net salary used to cover the rental cost of an average one-bedroom apartment in the city centre.

Cape Town’s improvement in affordability was the best seen overall, declining by 14.85% from 67.54% in 2018 to 52.68% in 2022. Although affordability has improved in Cape Town, it is still the most expensive city on the list.

Residents in Petroai and Johannesburg are also paying 9.06% and 6.70% less, respectively.

However, those in Durban and Port Elizabeth (now known as Gqeberha) are paying 4.89% and 22.60% more, respectively.

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