Property brokers perceived the national retail property market to be significantly undersupplied during Q2 2025 according to a survey conducted by FNB Commercial Property Finance.

The brokers identified the Cape Town property market as the strongest metro region across all three commercial property classes, followed by Nelson Mandela Bay and eThekwini. In contrast, Greater Johannesburg returned the weakest score by a significant margin.

The perceived oversupply in the national office market primarily stems from Gauteng’s metro regions with Greater Johannesburg and Tshwane recording significant negative readings.

According to Rode data, the three coastal metros have combined A+, A, and B-Grade decentralised office rates down in single territory (eThekwini 8.7%, Cape Town 9.1%, and Nelson Mandela Bay 7.6%) while Johannesburg and Tshwane are still in the double digits of 13.7% and 12.9% respectively.

In the industrial property market, Cape Town remained perceived as the strongest market relative to demand-supply followed by eThekwini, Tshwane, and Nelson Mandela Bay. Despite Johannesburg’s low industrial vacancy rates, it recorded the weakest reading which could be indicative of longer-term investor confidence in the region.

86% of brokers surveyed indicated that they are experiencing a shortage of office stock to list in Cape Town with 90% reporting a shortage of industrial stock to sell and 57% in the retail market.

In Johannesburg, no brokers experienced a shortage of office or retail property stock to sell, with only 21% reporting a shortage of industrial stock to sell.