Foreign Buyers Make Up 6% of South African Property Sales — But 39% of the Luxury Market

Foreign buyers account for only 6% of South Africa’s residential property transactions overall, but they made up 39% of purchases of homes valued above R20 million between 2016 and 2025, according to Lightstone data reported by Daily Investor — a gap that shows their real influence sits almost entirely at the top of the market.

Cape Town’s Atlantic Seaboard Is Where That Influence Concentrates

The Western Cape recorded the country’s highest share of foreign buyers, at 7.8% of transactions, and Cape Town alone drew an estimated R153 billion in foreign property spending over the past decade — the highest total of any city. That demand is not spread evenly: in Llandudno, almost two out of every three homes sold in the past decade — 67 of 102 transactions — went to foreign buyers, at an average price of R29.2 million. In neighbouring Bakoven and Camps Bay, just under half of all homes sold over the decade went to foreign buyers, with average transaction values of R16 million to R17 million. Together, the three suburbs accounted for about R8.6 billion in foreign property purchases. Foreign buyer share stays elevated further inland too — Constantia recorded 43% of transactions going to foreign buyers, and the Cape Town CBD recorded 39%, driven largely by sectional-title apartments popular with lifestyle buyers and investors.

Cape Town’s foreign buyers are described as largely wealthy lifestyle purchasers — people buying a coastal second home or investment property — a different profile from Johannesburg, where foreign buying is driven mainly by established immigrant communities rather than lifestyle demand.

Zagdim’s View — The 6% headline share understates what’s actually happening: in a handful of named Atlantic Seaboard suburbs, foreign buyers aren’t a marginal presence, they’re close to or above half the market, and it’s this concentration — not the national average — that should inform how a foreign buyer reads Cape Town’s ultra-prime segment. Data and events in this piece are current as of 15 August 2026.

References

Daily Investor – Two prestigious suburbs in South Africa where nearly half of all homes go to wealthy foreign buyers