Joburg’s grand property revival

It’s no secret that Joburg homeowners have struggled to make a decent return on their residential bricks-and-mortar investments while their Cape Town counterparts are coining it. That’s especially true for the upper end of the market.

Sales above R15m have been few and far between in Joburg in recent years, largely on the back of semigration and crumbling infrastructure; well-heeled buyers have fled to the Western Cape.

However, the tide appears to be turning. Industry players are reporting a notable rise in big-ticket sales, a trend that emerged late last year and which is gathering momentum. Year to date, several multiyear records have been achieved in some of Joburg’s wealthiest suburbs and lifestyle estates.

Chas Everitt International has sold two sprawling mansions at Waterfall Equestrian Estate for R50m and R38m in the past two months. The enclave, which is close to the Mall of Africa in Midrand, tends to attract new money and is the site of some of Joburg’s most expensive houses. Rory O’Hagan, head of Chas Everitt’s luxury division, says another property with a price tag of R89m is under offer there.

At neighbouring Waterfall Country Estate, O’Hagan sold a house for R18.5m, while a few kilometres down the road, at Blue Hills Equestrian Estate, a property fetched R19.5m.

Earlier this year, O’Hagan also sold two penthouses at Melrose Arch for R11m and R13m.

He says there has been a rise in sales in the R20m-R25m bracket in recent months in estates, among them Steyn City, Dainfern Golf Estate and Saddlebrook Estate. That follows a prolonged period of almost no sales above R20m.

Bang for your buck

O’Hagan ascribes the resurgence in demand for luxury homes in Joburg to the city’s value proposition, especially compared with Cape Town. The price gap has become so significant that buyers can no longer ignore it, he says.

It’s a sentiment shared by Andrew Golding, CEO of Pam Golding Properties, who says sales volumes in Sandhurst and Hyde Park have rebounded to 10-year highs. Prices are also testing multiyear highs. In late 2025, the group sold a new contemporary house on a stand of just more than 2,000m² in Sandhurst for R75m. A few months ago, another Sandhurst property changed hands for R46m, which Golding believes reflects renewed confidence among high net worth buyers in desirable, low-density areas close to Sandton’s financial district.

He says Sandhurst and Hyde Park offer “exceptional” value for money compared with similarly priced homes in upscale Cape Town areas. Buyers are getting way more bang for their buck in terms of stand size and square meterage, which he says comes with a level of privacy not readily available on the more densely developed western peninsula, for example.

There has also been a notable increase in luxury apartment sales in Sandton and surrounds. In Hyde Park, figures from Lightstone Properties show 60 sectional-title sales concluded year to date, which Golding says suggests that last year’s 10-year-high tally of 112 could be topped in 2026.

Big-ticket sales

At Olympus Sandton, Growthpoint Properties and Tricolt’s new 24-storey high-rise residential development under construction opposite Discovery’s headquarters on Rivonia Road, a penthouse of 911m² (including an expansive rooftop terrace of 256m²) was sold for just shy of R45m. About 90% of the development’s 512 apartments have already been sold off-plan (from R1.49m upwards) since the official launch in February. The development aims to set a new benchmark for luxury living and will be home to a Marble Group restaurant, and the deli and grocery concept the Pantry.

Earlier this year, a buyer paid R34m for a 439m² apartment at Steyn City, while an empty stand measuring 4,724m² was reserved for a hefty R28.3m, setting a new benchmark for undeveloped land prices in Gauteng. At neighbouring Dainfern Golf Estate, more than 40 properties have changed hands year to date for between R3.5m and R11.5m.

Caroline Nixon, Dainfern property specialist for Seeff, says she sold a house in the estate last month within seven days at the full asking price of R7m.

At Eagle Canyon Golf Estate in Honeydew on the West Rand, Seeff sold a property for a multiyear record of R14.54m, which area specialist Elna Myburgh says underlines the broad improvement in buyer sentiment over the past 12 months.

The latest numbers from mortgage originator ooba detail the strength of Joburg’s housing rebound. The group recorded a 10.1% year-on-year increase in house prices in the city in the first half of 2026 (based on purchases concluded by its clients). That is nearly double the 5.5% increase recorded by ooba in the Western Cape over the same period and well ahead of the 4.4% national average.

This story first appeared in the Financial Mail. Currency and the Financial Mail are part of the Financial Mail Group.

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_{Top image: A Hyde Park home with an asking price of R35m. Picture: Pam Golding.}