Boardroom Talk – Comfirmed: Joburg house prices fell the most of 219 cities since 2018

By Alec Hogg.Having sold our Joburg property last year, I'm painfully aware of how property prices in SA's commercial hub have fallen. Now comes confirmation that it's worse than even I imagined: over the past five years, my long-time hometown has posted the biggest house price drop of 219 global cities surveyed by UK-based Online Mortgage Advisor..To compare apples with apples, the researchers compared how many square metres a local could buy in a one-bedroom apartment with 2022 and 2018 average take-home pay. The table above shows the average Joburger's salary bought 23.2 sq/m in 2022, up from 14.6 sq/m five years earlier — the most significant difference of any city surveyed..___STEADY_PAYWALL___.Put differently, in 2018, a 100 sq/m one-bedroom flat in Joburg cost 6.8 years of the average salary. Last year, that dropped to slightly over four years. By comparison, the same-sized apartment in Cape Town requires an outlay equivalent to 15 and a half years of the average salary..Online Mortgage Advisor also compared rental data, using the cost per sq/m for 422 cities, including five in SA. The table below shows the results: Cape Town has far and away the most expensive rental accommodation of SA's major Metros – with temporarily DA-run Gqeberha the surprise package. .An obvious conclusion: the market doesn't lie – better governance translates into higher asset values. That's one of many reasons why democracy works best when those who vote have a direct financial interest in the outcome. The bigger the middle class, the more rational an election's outcome. .SterkteAlec.Read also:.Johannesburg's two-sided property crisis – Andrew KennyMailbox: In response to Andrew Kenny – A taxpayer's perspective on the Joburg property crisis"Bye, Bye Busi"…not a moment too soon – Paul Hoffman SC "If I perish I perish" – Busisiwe Mkhwebane

Boardroom Talk – Comfirmed: Joburg house prices fell the most of 219 cities since 2018

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