Number of the Day | 22% | 02 November 2026
Financial pressure is reshaping South Africa’s housing market, with 22% of home sellers being forced to downscale because they can no longer keep up with rising costs. While life-stage downscaling remains driven by retirement and empty nests, over one in five sales reflects acute affordability strain.
Gareth Edwards and Francis Herd unpack the latest FNB Estate Agents Survey to examine how surging municipal levies, rates, school fees, and soaring fuel bills are driving a two-speed property market. They also explore why the emigration home-selling impulse has faded from 18% to 3% and how wealthy South Africans are opting for financial offshoring instead.
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Chapter List
(00:00) 22%: The Financial Pressure Driving Home Downscaling
(00:58) The Rising Cost of Living: Levies, Taxes, and Commuting
(03:18) Traffic, Fuel Surges, and Moving Closer to Work
(05:23) The Fading Emigration Impulse: From 18% to 3%
