South African talk radio spent late July and early August circling one striking data point: the number of South Africans under 35 buying homes has collapsed from 108,000 in 2005 to just 45,000 last year. Presenters on Cape Talk, 702, Power FM, SAfm and The Corder Report treated it as a generational marker — evidence that stagnant wages, high interest rates, stricter post-COVID lending and runaway Western Cape prices have pushed first-time ownership out of reach for a demographic that makes up 37% of the population but owns just 7% of residential property.
The on-air conversation moved beyond doom, though. Presenters and guests picked apart the counter-trends: a rise in solo female buyers, a younger average age for those women entering the market, and cheaper entry points in the Free State and parts of Gauteng. Banks including Nedbank were cited as pushing new first-home financing products aimed at closing the gap. What emerged across stations was less a single crisis story than a debate about whether South Africa is following a global pattern of later, lonelier home ownership — or whether local wage stagnation is making the local version distinctly worse.
The headline figure — 108,000 young buyers in 2005 down to roughly 45,000 last year — became a shared reference point across the dial in the last fortnight of July. The Corder Report framed it as "an extraordinary piece of data" given that South Africa is "an overwhelmingly young nation where the median average age of South Africans is late 20s",1 while Cape Talk's morning team flagged the same News24 write-up and used it as a jumping-off point for a wider affordability conversation.2 Power FM's presenters described the residential market as undergoing "one of its most profound transformations in decades", pinning it on soaring costs, high rates, stagnant wages and stricter lending.3
The demographic imbalance did much of the rhetorical work. Cape Talk repeatedly returned to the split: under-35s are 37% of the population but hold just 7% of residential property, while over-50s — 29% of the population — own 68%.4 The Corder Report called that concentration a signal of "stagnancy in South Africa" and tied it directly to the absence of well-paid work outside the major metros.5
Presenters were careful to situate the numbers in a global frame. Cape Talk and 702 both cited UK ownership among 25-34 year olds falling from 59% in 2000 to 39% by 2023, with Australia showing a similar drop.67 A Cape Talk guest argued that as property prices outpace earnings, "the average first-time home buyer is sitting in the mid-30s" across America, Australia and Europe — and South Africa is heading the same way.8 The Corder Report added a post-COVID twist: financial institutions globally have become "much stricter and more stringent" on rates and risk for young borrowers.9
But several hosts pushed back on a purely global reading. On 702, the discussion turned to the specifically South African drag — that young people's ability "either to find jobs and if they do find jobs, find jobs that afford them the opportunity to purchase a house has been a very, very challenging part of home ownership over the last 20 years."10 The Corder Report linked the housing retreat to a parallel debt story: more than 40% of take-home pay going to debt repayments for many households, with younger consumers and women under the greatest pressure.1112
Regional disparity was the other recurring thread. A bond originator on Cape Talk pointed out that only about 30% of Western Cape applications come from first-time buyers, compared with nearly 62% in the Free State — a function, they said, of Western Cape prices sometimes running at more than double the national norm.13 On 702, the same guest described young professionals being pushed into outlying areas, feeding Cape Town commuter traffic that is "becoming as bad as many of the major countries around the world".14
Amid the gloom, presenters worked hard to surface the more optimistic sub-plots. Cape Talk's property segment celebrated solo female buyers now making up 53% of first-time purchases, with the average age of a solo female buyer dropping from 47 to 39 over a decade.15 The same guest described a "profound shift" away from co-purchasing towards 18-to-34-year-olds buying on their own rather than waiting.16 The Corder Report noted growing property ownership among young black South Africans and young women as a genuinely encouraging counter-current.17
Lending innovation was floated as part of the answer. On Power FM, a guest described a push to lift a first-home financing threshold to R35,000 in monthly qualifying income under an arrangement with banks including Nedbank, aimed squarely at the first-time buyers "falling outside" the current criteria.18 702's business bulletin noted that despite the squeeze, the value of bonds applied for has risen by more than 4% and the average house price grown to R1.7 million, with lenders arguing high rates have hit affordability rather than underlying demand.19
Presenters also asked whether some of the retreat is a lifestyle choice rather than pure exclusion. Power FM's morning team framed it as a "buying versus rental" debate, asking at what life stage buying still makes sense given current conditions.20 A Cape Talk contributor suggested younger people "are not that keen to buy property" globally, comparing the optimism of the mid-2000s commodities boom with today's more cautious mood.21
What's unresolved on air is whether the newer lending products, the rise of solo female buyers and cheaper inland markets can meaningfully offset two decades of price growth outpacing wages. The stations agree on the diagnosis; they diverge on whether South Africa's under-35s are being locked out for good, or simply arriving at the property ladder a decade later than their parents did. That is the question worth watching as the Reserve Bank's next rate decisions land.22
- 702
- Cape Talk
- Power FM
- SAfm
- The Corder Report
Citations
- 1.
“In 2005, young South Africans defined as 35 years old and under 108,000 young South Africans, that's 35 and underbored homes. Last year, 45,000. Now think about that. Think about the development of South Africa's economy. Think about our population increase. Think about the fact that we're an overwhelmingly young nation where the median average age of South Africans is late 20s. It's an extraordinary piece of data that shows that cost of living is becoming”
- 2.
“, and you shouldn't be beating yourself up about that. That can be part of the plan. I think every plan changes and shifts. I mean, with our clients, we change their plans on an annual basis. We review and see if it's still fit for purpose. And we adjust when things adjust in their life. Interesting article in News 24 this morning in the Business section there. It says in 2005, 108,000 young South Africans bought homes. That number has since slumped”
- 3.
“The study has found here that the residential property market in South Africa is undergoing one of its most profound transformations in decades. Soring house costs high interest rates, stagnant wage growth, and stricter lending requirements have pushed home ownership beyond the reach of many young people. New data reveals that the number of young South Africans that are buying homes has plummeted from 108,000 in 2005 to just 45 years.”
- 4.
“and the American Party. While women and black South Africans are making up a growing share of young home buyers, the overall number of buyers under the age of 35s decline significantly over the past 20 years. In South Africa, under 35s make up 37% of the population but own just 7% of residential property. Those of us who over 50 own 68% of properties, despite representing only 29% of the population.”
- 5.
“That speaks to the fact that in outside of the major major polls, there isn't a lot of well-paid work going around whatsoever. There are a lot of people who are unemployed, and so it's not realistic to buy a home. But it's also the fact that South Africans are feeling very insecure and anxious about their financial lived realities. There's another new story that came out earlier this week about South Africans drowning in debt. We have spoken at length about the dangers of South Africans from a position of hopelessness, desperately doing gambling, online gambling in particular and in most cases losing all of their money.”
- 6.
“that is dropped to 39% in 2023. So there's definitely a drop in the UK and Australia's showing the same. Ownership and properties have also dropped from 61 to 43 in the age group of 25 to 34. So it's definitely a world-run phenomenon whether it's the prices of houses that has increased kind of beyond what people can afford or whether it's the lifestyle of being able to move and without being restricted to one place. I think it's definitely a mix of all of those factors.”
- 7.
“and a slightly different home ownership culture. The younger people seem to just generally not be as keen. I mean, I don't know if something's happened to sort of homes as a proper, as an asset class or if there's maybe just a shift in the way people want to move through the world. Definitely. I mean, we had a look at the UK as an example and property ownership of 25 to 34 year olds, whereas at 59% in 2000, that has dropped to 39% in 2020.”
- 8.
“which follows global trends is that as property prices become more expensive, the average age of first-time buyers is high irrespective of economic circumstances. So if you look at countries like America, Australia, Europe, the average first-time home buyer is sitting in the mid-30s, which is where South Africa's numbers are heading to. And that's simply because property prices have been going up steadily and outpacing earnings. And so those”
- 9.
“The United States, the United States, and the United States, the United States, and the United States, are available to lots of young people. Since COVID, a lot of financial institutions have become much stricter and more stringent with the kinds of rates that they're willing to give people, with the kinds of risk that they're willing to take on board and the kinds of like supplementary financial services they're willing to provide to particularly young people. But the data around South Africa is really fascinating. So in 2005, again, when there was easier access to credit, young adults in South Africa, 108,000 of them under the ages of 35 bought home. So, in 2005, we've got the same information.”
- 10.
“as a result, the ability of young South Africans either to find jobs and if they do find jobs, find jobs that afford them the opportunity to purchase a house has been a very, very challenging part of home ownership over the last 20 years. I think that's the first. I think if you dig into some more of the data around demographics, there are some other encouraging signs around, for example, young blacks.”
- 11.
“and more than 40% of the take home money pay on debt repayments. Let me repeat that. More than 40% of the amount of money that they taking home is spent on debt repayments with younger consumers, women and middle income earners facing the greatest pressure. But despite these challenges, South Africans are taking proactive steps to regain control of the finances through budgeting, through pursuing additional income opportunities or seeking professional debt help.”
- 12.
“So, what's up line and comments? Many of them from yesterday's show. Thank you for watching. We did a special episode on how few South Africans, particularly under the age of 35, are able to buy houses these days. It's dropped from over 100,000 per year in 2005 to less than 50,000 last year, which just shows how awful and unaffordable it is to be living in South Africa and to be fair, much of the world and by property, particularly when young these days. So apparently, in a moment that neither James nor I noticed at the time, which shows how sick James is,”
- 13.
“and so the rural Western Cape, the further out you go, the chances of slightly cheaper properties, but only 30% of our applications in the Western Cape come from a first-time home buyers. So if you compare that to what we see in some of the other provinces, as an example in the free state, nearly 62% of all of our applications are from first-time home buyers. And again, that's all related to the property prices. So for somebody, maybe,”
- 14.
“Young Professionals, Looking to Own a Home. It's very, very expensive to some degree in the main metric and affordable. And so you find more and more people buying in more outlying areas and that's how commuting develops. I'm not sure when last you were in Cape Town, but the traffic in Cape Town is becoming as bad as many of the major countries around the world, especially commuting in and out in the morning. In areas like Johannesburg, property prices certainly haven't appreciated the same degree.”
- 15.
“So what we are celebrating today, solo female buyers are now making up 53% of first-time purchases. And then the average age of a solo female buyer dropped from 47 to 39 over a decade. That is also good news. What does this tell us about the financial literacy and maybe the long-term planning of South Africa's millennial and Gen Z professionals? So definitely the uptick in terms of female home buyers and younger first-time female home buyers.”
- 16.
“and the signaling has definitely now made a profound shift to the younger generation purchasing home owners on purchasing property on their own as opposed to with other people. So in the past it was very much to assist with affordability and now what we see is people are more and more people specifically in the age category of 18 to 34 or 35 are looking to purchase properties on their own and get into the property market sooner and not waiting for them.”
- 17.
“The progress in South Africa, which means that more and more women are able to make money for themselves and particularly younger women and buy more property. To give you specific data on these kinds of talking points, the other alarming trend, potentially, is that property owners over 50 accounted for 68% of properties owned last year, although they made up just 29% of the population, which could show that obviously, stagnancy in South Africa radically awful.”
- 18.
“White and Number of South Africans, particularly those who need to be owning houses for the first time they are falling outside. We actually are trying hard to push to 35,000, which is the arrangement which we are now having with the financial institution. In fact, as we are talking, if you can say, "On your system, first home financing, Nedbank, for example, or any other, obviously, we have already signed, already,”
- 19.
“and the United States. The value of bonds applied for increased by more than 4%. The average house price also grew by 4.2% to 1.7 million rand. Talking to business day, Uber Home Loan says the high interest rates have slowed down affordability and not necessarily demand for houses. So there's still appetite for people to buy. It's just looking to buy at the right price.”
- 20.
“Re-shaped property market. More and more young people are opting to rent because, hey, they can't afford it or they just choose it, make the choice that they will rent because they rather than opt to buy. So it's a debate that's long raised about buying versus rental. At what point of your life is buying a home a good investment? Especially given current market content.”
- 21.
“of the second one with another house and that's where we are now. But younger people it seems. I'm not so keen on buying property under 35s, not nearly so keen. Part of it must be economic. That period 2005 relatively low interest rates, a lot of hope for the future, the commodities boom, this sort of limbake boom if you like. I don't think it had much to do with MMMFRAID but certainly that was happening. So there's more optimism. But I think around the world actually younger people are not that keen to buy property. Your experience please. I've read”
- 22.
“decision to keep the reparate and change raises fresh questions about affordability, I suppose, borrowing costs and whether the property market can regain some of that momentum. Do we have any insight as to why those younger than 35 are not buying property? I think there are a couple of insights, some of them to get a two-state Africa and some of them following creams that we see overseas. So I think firstly, just generally from an affordability point of view,”