Cheapest province in South Africa to rent a house

PayProp’s Rental Index for the first quarter of 2025 revealed the best performance for South Africa’s rental market in years.

Average rents in the country rose by 5.2%, 6.0% and 5.5% year on year in January, February and March, respectively. 

The report noted that February’s growth is a new post-pandemic record and the highest recorded since August 2017.

Several factors worked in the rental market’s favour this quarter. First, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) cut interest rates by 25 basis points in January.

Secondly, low inflation during the quarter meant that the healthy real-terms rental growth seen in Q4 2024 has already continued into 2025. 

CPI inflation was 3.2% in January and February before falling to 2.7% in March. The 2.8% gap between rental growth and inflation recorded in February and March is the largest recorded so far in this cycle of rental growth.

However, the report warned that some factors could also work against the rental market in the rest of the year.

For example, it said the uncertainty caused by an ongoing global trade war and a likely economic slowdown means that rental growth could become more constrained later this year.

Regardless, PayProp said the SARB’s subsequent decision to cut the prime rate by another 25 basis points at its May meeting will likely boost tenant affordability while also increasing activity in the property sales market.

“For now, the residential rental sector looks healthy on all metrics,” it said. 

“Landlords continue to make up for the low or negative real-terms rental growth they experienced during the pandemic, helped by high tenant demand for properties.” 

“While risks remain, this is the best South Africa’s rental market has performed in a long time.”

Average rent by province – the three most expensive

The residential rental market in most of South Africa’s nine provinces performed well in the first quarter, with many provinces that lagged behind in 2024 recovering.

The Western Cape, South Africa’s property market leader, continued to go from strength to strength.

Despite already boasting the highest average in the country, R11,285, this province still saw above-average year-on-year rental growth of 9.6% in Q1.

The Western Cape’s average rent figure of R11,285 is R985 more than a year earlier, and R1,704 ahead of the next most expensive province, the Northern Cape.

The Northern Cape’s recovery from a poor 2024 saw its average rent rise to R9,581 in Q1 2025, securing its spot in second place.

The Northern Cape’s rental market struggled in 2024, but a rally in the last quarter signalled the start of a recovery, which continued into the first quarter of 2025.

Rental growth in this province reached 3.3% in Q1 – still well below average, but now only the third lowest in South Africa. 

The third most-expensive province in the rankings is Gauteng, which is off to a slow start in 2025.

Rental growth in Gauteng was below average in every quarter of 2024, finishing the year at 3.4%. In Q1 2025, it fell further to 2.9%, the second lowest in the country.

However, the average rent in Gauteng remained at R9,201 in Q1, making it the third-highest in South Africa.

This average rent is R258 more than a year ago, but only R31 ahead of fourth-placed (and faster-growing) KwaZulu-Natal.

PayProp warned that, unless rental growth turns around in Gauteng, it could easily lose its place on the podium this year. 

Average rent by province – the three cheapest

The Free State moved up in Q1’s rankings to become the third cheapest province to rent in South Africa at an average rent of R7,453.

Year-on-year rental growth in the Free State started quickly in 2024 before falling to a below-average 3.5% in Q4. 

However, in Q1 2025, the acceleration over the previous quarter was even faster. In this quarter, growth more than doubled compared to Q4 2024, hitting 7.6% – the fourth highest in South Africa.

This increased the Free State’s average rent to R7,453, a rise of R526 year-on-year. This was enough to overtake the Eastern Cape as the third-cheapest province for tenants.

This is not to say that the Eastern Cape’s rental market did not perform well this quarter, as year-on-year rental growth in the province exceeded the previous quarter’s figure for the first time since 2023, reaching 4.4% in Q1 2025.

However, PayProp explained that faster acceleration in other provinces made the Eastern Cape only the sixth fastest-growing province in Q1, down from fifth fastest the previous quarter.

Regardless, this took the average rent in the province to R7,330, up by R309 compared to a year earlier.

South Africa’s cheapest province to rent is the North West, which also had the fastest rental growth in the country in Q1 2025, at 13.5%. 

Average rent in the North West is the lowest in the country at just R7,153. However, this is a massive R852 more than a year before, and closing in on the eighth-placed Eastern Cape.

The table below, courtesy of PayProp, shows where each province falls in the average rent rankings for the first quarter of 2025.