Single women are now the biggest group of property buyers in South Africa – larger than couples and single men

Last year, almost 72,000 single women bought residential properties in South Africa, according to the property and vehicle research group Lightstone. 

This is considerably more than both single men (62,000) and also more than couples - making single women the largest group of buyers in South Africa.

The graph below compares the number of properties sold to single women (bright blue), to those sold to single men (dark blue), married couples (bright green) and multiple buyers (dark green).

Cindy Bezuidenhout, lead analyst at Lightstone Property, says female buyers have been steadily increasing since 2016, noticeably overtaking the male and married couple markets.

​Single female property buyers largely dominate in Gauteng and then by a smaller margin in the Eastern Cape. Married couples outnumber other buyer types in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

But while single women represent the most property sales, they are still buying cheaper homes.  

South African married couples purchase properties with the highest value, followed by single men.

So far in 2019, married couples have bought properties with an average sale price of almost R1.2 million - compared to around R1 million and around R800,000 for single women.

Since 2013, women have been the main buyers of houses below R250,000. 

Article referenced from:
https://www.businessinsider.co.za/single-women-are-now-the-biggest-group-of-property-buyers-in-south-africa-larger-than-couples-and-single-men-2019-5