South African Home Loans Granted Rose 4.1% in July as the Deposit Burden Eased

BetterBond reported home loans granted up 4.1% year on year in July 2026 and 28% above July 2024, with deposits averaging 13.2% of the purchase price.

The volume of home loans granted in South Africa rose 4.1% in July 2026 against July 2025, and stands 28% above the July 2024 level, according to the BetterBond Property Brief published on 14 August. The two-year comparison is the more telling one, because it brackets the period over which South African borrowing costs came down from their restrictive peak. Average purchase prices across all buyers reached R1.7 million, with first-time buyers averaging R1.4 million — a record for that group — and taking bonds averaging R1.2 million.

The deposit maths has improved

Deposits now average 13.2% of the purchase price. The number that changed is not the percentage but what it costs a household to reach it: the ratio of the average deposit to the average buyer's salary has fallen 21% from its peak in the fourth quarter of 2022, and sits below where it was a year ago. Buyer incomes have risen 14% over two years, which has done more to close the deposit gap than any movement in lending standards. A first-time buyer paying R1.4 million and borrowing R1.2 million is putting down roughly R200,000, and that sum has become easier to assemble in salary terms even as the absolute figure has grown.

Gauteng's estates pull the average up

Lightstone data cited by the Seeff Property Group shows gated estates accounting for 16.7% of Gauteng transactions by count but 28.6% of transaction value — more than R35 billion. The premium is substantial: 11.2% of estate sales exceed R4 million, against 4.14% in the broader market, and the average estate transaction of R2.37 million runs about 76% above Gauteng's overall average of R1.3 million. Samuel Seeff, chairman of the group, attributed it to demand for security and reliable services, the two things South African buyers have consistently paid a premium for. Typical luxury estate stock trades in the R3 million to R7 million band.

The income side of the equation

South Africa carries the highest gross rental yield of the 70 markets in Glopra's data at 11.53%, against an average price of $906 per square metre as of the 23 July snapshot — a combination of low capital values and rents that have held up, rather than a sign of unusual rental strength. Cape Town's prime segment sits well above the national level at $3,000 per square metre with a 9.49% gross yield and prices 10.5% higher year on year as of the 30 July snapshot, while the national market rose 4.7%. The bubble-risk score of 29 out of 100 is among the lowest recorded, in the moderate band and near its floor.

The limits of the picture

BetterBond originates a large share of South African bonds but not all of them, so its volume figures track the mortgage-financed segment rather than the whole market — cash purchases, which are a meaningful share of the upper end, sit outside it. The tourism figures the brief cites for the Western Cape — 1.5 million international arrivals in 2025, up 11.1%, and R26 billion in visitor spending, up 15.4% — support the Cape rental case but are a separate data strand from the bond origination numbers. Gross yields quoted here exclude the 20.02% effective rental tax rate applied to the standardised non-resident case, which takes the national figure closer to 9%.

Sources: BetterBond Property Brief via IOL Property https://iol.co.za/business/property/2026-08-14-the-deposit-squeeze-isnt-stopping-south-africans-from-buying-homes/; BetterBond https://www.betterbond.co.za/learn/home-loan-activity-in-south-africa-gains-momentum/

Market data: Cape Town · South Africa