Johannesburg Emerges As Most Affordable City

In a study carried out by the UK-based Online Mortgage Advisor, Johannesburg ranked first

South Africa's commercial capital Johannesburg has been ranked first in a study of world cities where buying property has become more affordable to its residents in recent years. UK-based Online Mortgage Advisor carried out a study on where buying and renting property has become more or less affordable for the average worker globally over the last few years, by comparing ever-fluctuating house prices and average salaries.

The study by the online mortgage broker and advice service company which matches bidders with mortgage brokers, analysed how many square meters of property the average full-time employee could afford in 2022 versus 2018 in 219 global cities. It also explored where local workers are being priced out of the local rental market the fastest by looking at how much property prices have outgrown local wages during the same time period.    

“We compared each city's average monthly net salary to the average rental cost of a one-bedroom apartment in the city centre to calculate its change in affordability during the same period,” the report said. “Johannesburg ranked first and was crowned the global city where buying property became more affordable at the fastest rate for local residents worldwide since 2018,” the report by Online Mortgage Advisor said.   

In 2018, the average Johannesburg worker could afford 14.6 sq m of property, compared to 23.2 in 2022 - an increase of 8.6 sq m, it said. Johannesburg rental prices also became more affordable in relative terms, as the average worker had to spend 6.70% less of their annual salary on rental payments over the same period.   

The South African city also saw the biggest positive change in property affordability while Edmonton in Canada, and Denver in the US rounded out the top three, the report said. Cape Town was ranked 16th on the list.