Single Female buyers rule Gauteng’s property market
According to data collected by Lightstone Property, single female buying power appears to be on the rise in South Africa. This new buying power doesn't stop at real estate, however, as female buyers are also almost on par with males in the car market, showing a trend towards greater equality.
When you buy a house in Nelspruit or Mpumalanga in general, you’re typically doing it as a couple. All across the country, couples still dominate the more expensive real estate, naturally, but single females are leaving their mark closer to the economic centres of South Africa.
Cindy Bezuidenhout‚ lead analyst at Lightstone Property‚ said their data clearly shows that female buyers have been steadily increasing since 2016‚ noticeably overtaking the male and married couple markets. Married couples are still firmly in the lead in the Western Cape and KZN but this could change in a few years if the trend continues.
It’s an important distinction to make, however, that while single women are buying more property in these areas, they are not buying more expensive property. As one might naturally conclude, couples retain more buying power, and therefore snap up the more expensive homes.
Lightstone also observed some changes within the car market noting that, “the brand with the largest percentage of female buyers is Fiat with 68%. Hyundai comes in second selling 63% of their vehicles to women. Of the total Mazda purchases‚ 62.6% are by women and 59% of Kia’s are female buyers.”
Female leadership has been a point of focus in South Africa for a long time. The country has a higher rate of female parliamentarians than any other African country and came close to having a female president. The government has focused in on income inequality and it seems as though some impact is being felt. While the pay gap continues to exist in many industries, if the trend holds it may only be a few more years before that’s no longer the case.
