Lightstone: Current annual inflation rate is 4.35% and monthly is 0.25%

National inflation

Current annual inflation rate is 4.35% and monthly is 0.25%.

Market review

National year-on-year house price inflation is at 4.35%, marking a 4th consecutive month of a 5%-or-under growth in prices.

Inflation remained steady in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga; increased in the North West, Northern Cape and Western Cape; and decreased in the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal.

Prices in the Low Value segment continue to outgrow those in the higher-value segments. The inflation rate for this segment is currently at 9%, almost double that of the Mid Value segment at 4.9%. 

Provincial inflation

The Lightstone Provincial Index tracks annual inflation of all provinces in South Africa.

Latest / current provincial inflation status 

Municipal inflation

The Lightstone Municipal Index tracks annual inflation at a municipal level, with coastal and inland based municipalities reviewed independently.

Property inflation: coast vs non-coast 

The Lightstone Coast vs Non-Coast Index compares property located within enumerator areas 500m of the coastline to those located further inland.

Property inflation: Freehold vs Sectional Title

Property inflation: value bands

The Lightstone Area Value Bands Index reviews inflationary rates for property based on the following values.

Luxury: > R1.5mil

High Value: R700k to R1.5mil

Mid Value: R250k to R700k

Low Value: <R250k

Property inflation: value bands (continued)

Inflation table 

Shining A Light On Our Approach...

Methodology: Lightstone applies the repeat sales methodology when reviewing and reporting on property data. In contrast to 'average house price' indices, repeat sales indices provide a measure of the actual price inflation of houses that have transacted twice within a particular period of time. The main benefit of this is that it is less influenced by the mix of transacting properties. The repeat sales methodology is recognised as the premier methodology for indexing house prices and is used by many international residential property price indexers including the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) in the United States.

Data: All property transactions in South Africa are registered in the Deeds Office and each record contains the legal details of both the property and the transaction. For the purposes of the Repeat Sales Index for residential properties, the following transactions have been excluded: farms; any transactions which may be of a development, commercial or community services nature; new developments; sales made in execution of a judgement; non-arms-length transactions; transactions where the inflation is extremely different to the norm of the statistical distribution of inflation rates; and township transactions.

Caution: Lightstone presents both annual and monthly inflation rates. Monthly inflation emphasises recent market performance (ie month on month) and is more volatile than annual inflation trends. Conclusions about the future trend of annual inflation, based on monthly inflationary rates, must be made with caution.

Disclaimer: The Lightstone Repeat Sales Index system applies advanced statistical methods to a comprehensive property database - compiled from the Deeds Office, the Surveyor General and other sources - to generate repeat sales inflation data for individual residential properties. Despite the statistical and actuarial rigour applied, Lightstone cannot guarantee the accuracy and reliability of the data. Furthermore, the index is a statistical tool and does not amount to advice and may not be applicable in some cases. Lightstone does not take responsibility for any losses incurred as a result of any person acting or omitting to act as a result of the publication of this index.

Courtesy of Lightstone