While Johannesburg’s residential sales volumes have fallen since 2019, Lightstone says it witnessed a promising uptick in 2024 and despite the modest increase in activity, when compared to 2023, this signals optimism in the market.

Data for purchases between R30 000 to R50 million in Johannesburg between 2019 and 2024 reveals that sales volumes have fallen from 37 000 in 2019 to just under 35 000 in 2024 – although 2024 was up on the six-year low of 32 000 in 2023.

The average purchase price also remained relatively static from just under R1.3 million in 2019 to just over R1.3 million in 2024 – with a slight rise to +R1.4 million in 2023.

Properties have also spent more time on the market over the period, rising from 79 days in 2019 to 97 days in 2024.

Discovery in Roodepoort was the quickest selling of Johannesburg’s suburbs with 52 days on the market followed by Amorosa in Roodepoort (54) and Bassonia (57) in Johannesburg’s southern suburbs.

Bryanston in Sandton topped the number of properties sold at 157 which took an average 108 days to sell with Parkhurst next (84 properties, 70 days on the market) and Douglasdale third with 79 properties sold with an average of 77 days on the market.

Houses in ‘super luxury areas’ were consistently on the market for the longest time in each of the six years while ‘mid-value’ areas spent the shortest amount of time on the market in 2019 and 2021, ‘affordable’ in 2020, 2023, and 2024 and ‘high value’ areas in 2022.

Properties listed at R5 million or more spent the most time on the market in each of the six years reviewed, although only marginally so in 2024 while properties listed between R500 000 and R1 million spent the shortest time on the market in 2019.