Cape Town’s property market has been the darling among South Africa’s metros.
Routinely posting double-digit increases.
According to the most recent data from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), that was the case again in May.
Cape Town Property in Demand
The Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) shows the City of Cape Town’s property inflation increased 11.5% between May 2025 and May 2026.
Between April 2026 and May 2026, property prices increased 1%.
Cape Town also contributed 4.5 percentage points to the metro RPPI, driving up the metro average to 8% despite no other metro surpassing 8%.
Resold properties in the metro had the largest increase.
Prices jumped 12% between May 2025 and May 2026.
Compared to April 2025, May prices are up 1.1%.
Sectional titles and freehold properties also experienced growth.
Sectional title prices rose 10.5% year-on-year and 1.1% month-on-month.
Freehold properties are up 10.6% year-on-year and 0.5% month-on-month.
The metro also beat out the provincial average. Properties in the Western Cape are only up 11.2%.
Not All Good News in Cape Town
Not everyone walks away a winner in Cape Town.
Developers seem to be taking a knock.
According to Stats SA, first-time property prices declined 2.8% between May 2025 and May 2026.
Between April 2026 and May 2026, prices for these properties declined 0.7%.
The only other metros where new property prices declined were Buffalo City, where prices dropped 10.9% and eThekwini, where prices dropped 6.6%.
Manguang in Bloemfontein was the biggest winner for developers. Prices for new property increased 16.5% year-over-year.
How Cape Town Compares to Other Metros
Major metros like Ekurhuleni, which includes Germiston, Benoni, Kempton Park, and Nigel, had the second-highest increase.
Between May 2025 and May 2026, property prices increased 7.3%.
While Cape Town encountered a downturn in new property prices, Ekurhuleni increased 6.6% year-on-year.
The metro ranked in the top three for resold properties, with prices up 5.5% year-on-year, slightly below Nelson Mandela Bay, where prices rose 5.7%.
Sectional titles in Ekurheleni performed the worst for the metro.
Prices only rose 0.9%.
But freehold properties had the highest increase; prices rose 8.6% year-on-year in the metro.
