Women dominate the Gauteng property market
A recent analysis on property trends reveals the changing face of South African home ownership, with female buyers overtaking the male and married couple markets. Get more insights in this article.
Women dominate the Gauteng property market
The proportion of female property buyers in Gauteng has jumped over the past two years, according to new statistics on property trends. The data by Lightstone Property show that single female buyers influence property purchases more than single men and married couples.
According to the volume of sales by buyer type in all provinces, the purchase of homes by women has been more robust than men’s in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape, however, women in the province appear to favour property in the lower value band while more men buy properties with heavier price tags.
Since 2013, more than 130 000 female buyers bought homes in the R250 000-and-under price range, which is 20% higher than males in the same segment. By comparison, men are strongly represented in the above-R700 000 value band. Cindy Bezuidenhout, lead analyst at Lightstone Property, noted: “One could deduct that the gap between male and female average sale price [can be] attributed to the income inequality between the two groups.”
On a national scale‚ the luxury property market was a hotbed for family-driven purchases. Married couples outnumbered other buyer categories in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal‚ with single female buyers, and male buyers following suit.
Bezuidenhout says that the surge in women property owners is a reflection of societal changes over the last couple of years as they gain more power in the economy and become more financially independent.
