Notes on the South African property market.
The tools agents run, what the portals charge them for, and what property markets elsewhere built before ours. Every number sourced, every gap named.
What the numbers say about South African estate agencies, the portals they list on and the money moving between them.
Western Cape landlords circulate lists of vacant commercial space to brokers, priced per square metre. Where vacancy schedules live, and how to read one.
5 min readHow many estate agents in South Africa? The regulator's own planning document admits no full database of practitioners. Nobody has an official count.
4 min readIn 2023 the Competition Commission found the property portals charging rate gaps of more than 300% with no cost basis. Here's what its inquiry changed.
4 min readProperty24's top tier rose 374% between 2014 and 2020. The 2026 rate card runs from R656 to R84 256 a month. Here's what agencies pay, tier by tier.
4 min readWork the PPRA's own register numbers and the average SA estate agency comes out at about 3 qualified agents. Most industry advice is written for giants.
3 min readSouth Africa has 6,202 registered estate agency firms on the PPRA's books. The full provincial table, and why 83% sit in Gauteng, the Western Cape and KZN.
4 min read
Elsewhere in the guide
- What a property report costs in South Africa in 2026: R48 to R235, and what you actually get
Nine sellers, one address: prices run from R48 to R235 a report. What each one shows, how long it takes, and where findproperly's R99 sits.
- The other Findproperly, and the UK market that swallowed it
A London startup, Find Properly, shared our name until a rival bought it in 2014. Its sale opens a sourced history of Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket.
- Property24 vs Private Property vs MyProperty: where your listing money actually goes
Property24 vs Private Property vs MyProperty: how each portal charges SA agencies in 2026, and which one hasn't shown a rate card since March 2020.
- Every tool a South African estate agency pays for in 2026 (and what it costs)
Estate agency software in South Africa, 2026: what Property24, PropCtrl, Lightstone and WinDeed cost, with every price dated to its source.
- What is a CMA and what does one cost in South Africa in 2026?
What is a CMA? A comparative market analysis prices a home against nearby sales. How to read them, and what Lightstone, WinDeed and CMAInfo charge in 2026.
- Zillow tried to out-price every agent in America and lost $881m
The Zillow Zestimate explained: where it's accurate, where it isn't, and how the $881 million Zillow Offers bet collapsed. Notes for SA agents.