House Prices/GDP per Capita in South Africa compared to Africa

South Africa: House price to income ratio

The house price to income ratio is the ratio of the cost of a typical upscale housing unit of 100 square metres, compared to the countrys GDP per capita. Normally this ratio will be much higher in low income countries than in high income countries.

The formula is: (Price per square metre / GDP per capita)*100. The house price to income ratios published by the Global Property Guide are based on the Global Property Guides own proprietary in-house research, but we use the IMFs GDP per capita figures.

South Africa does not publish official house price statistics, but ABSA Group releases good house price data. ABSA has a monthly house price index and quarterly property projections. General economics statistics are available from the Reserve Bank of Africa and the First National Bank (FNB). FNB releases quarterly economic forecasts as well.