The property market continues to move forward, driven by a genuine demand for housing and a banking sector that is increasingly seeking quality mortgage business.
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The South African property sector is seeing a market that is learning to thrive in this "new normal" of stabilised rates.
Delivering the Monetary Policy Committee's March 2026 interest rate decision on Thursday afternoon, Lesetja Kganyago, the Governor at the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), said that the committee decided to keep the policy rate unchanged, at 6.75%.
He said the decision of the committee was unanimous.
The SARB’s decision to maintain the repo rate is not unexpected and certainly reflects a "watch and wait" approach as the impact of geopolitical tensions remains a concern, says Adriaan Grové, CEO of MyProperty and Entegral.
He says that while the immediate relief of a rate cut was deferred, the underlying fundamentals of the South African property sector remain constructive.
“While the hold is good news for property owners, for the broader industry, the digital shift and increased transparency in property data are helping buyers find value even when the interest rate cycle pauses.
"I'm optimistic as the market continues to move forward, driven by a genuine demand for housing and a banking sector that is increasingly seeking quality mortgage business,” Grové says.
The wait-and-see approach adopted by the Reserve Bank at today’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting was to be expected given the global turbulence since February due to conflict in the Middle East, says Neil Abernethy, spokesman for Tyson Properties.
He notes concerns that an extremely high fuel increase and resultant increases in food and service prices will put pressure on household disposable incomes. But he views the rates remaining the same, at 6.75%, during what are particularly uncertain times, as a positive sign.
Before the current geopolitical tensions, most analysts expected interest rates to be cut by at least another 50 basis points during 2026. Abernathy says they expect the Reserve Bank to hold off on cuts until things begin to stabilise, with further cuts unlikely until late in the year at the earliest.
“What we are unlikely to see is a repo rate increase, as all are aware that we need to make it as easy as possible for South Africans to ride out this unfortunate period.
"As things stand, even at $100 per barrel, the high oil price is unlikely to put too much pressure on the Reserve Bank’s new 3% inflation target and its one-percentage-point tolerance band,” he says.
Like the Reserve Bank, he says he expects the property market to remain resilient. “Buyers on the lookout for the right property, in the perfect location and at a good price, would continue to invest.”
The decision by the Reserve Bank to retain the repo rate unchanged at 6.75% (prime at 10.25%) was appropriate and expected, but Samuel Seeff, chairman of the Seeff Property Group, says the outlook must remain clear for at least two more cuts this year.
He warned that SARB must guard against any premature or reactionary rate hikes triggered by the temporary oil price spike and petrol volatility caused by the Middle Eastern war. This geopolitical instability must be viewed as a temporary glitch rather than a reason to increase the cost of debt, he says.
“Economic stability and a focus on growth must be prioritised over any short-term action which could again set the economy back.
"Seeff argues that the economy and the property market have yet to feel a real uptick as previous interest rate adjustments were simply too slow and too low to provide a meaningful stimulus.”
GDP growth for 2025 ended at a disappointing 1.1%, below the Bank’s own projections, says Seeff.
He said while the outlook is more positive for the year ahead, the market requires the certainty of a downward interest rate trajectory to recover from its current lack of momentum, he says.
According to the property group, a case for further easing is supported by exceptionally strong underlying fundamentals that the Bank must not ignore.
It says inflation has plummeted to a record low of 3.0% for February (down from 3.5% in January), placing it firmly at the bottom of the Bank’s target range and removing any fundamental justification for high borrowing costs.
It adds that the Rand has also remained resilient, trading consistently below or around ZAR17 to the USD, its best performance in years.
“Given these favourable indicators, Seeff believes the Bank has already been too cautious, and missed a golden opportunity to cut rates in January, which could have provided a buffer.”
Consumers are already burdened by significant hikes in electricity and fuel, and there should be no need to add higher debt servicing costs to these pressures, the chairman says.
He says this would be an unnecessary burden since there is no evidence of consumer overspending. Keeping the rate unnecessarily high also means fewer first-time buyers are able to buy their first homes, he says.
According to Seeff, while last year’s rate cuts have been welcomed by the property sector, the reality is that market performance has remained well below expectations as stand-out price increases in the Cape, especially, have masked the reality of weak performances across most of the country.
He adds that the property sector continues to trade well below its 2021/22 highs, with sales volumes still down by close to 20% from where they should be.
Economic growth and job creation must remain the top priority, and for this, Seeff says the Bank must hold steady now and commit to a more aggressive cutting cycle for the remainder of the year.
"Economic stability is vital, and the Reserve Bank must ensure that the market is not unsettled by a hike which would only serve to stifle a recovering economic outlook,” says Seeff.
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