Gauteng Leads in Home Loan Approvals as Economists Hint at Interest Rate Cut
- South African economists hinted that South Africans could see another interest rate cut before the year ends
- Recent shifts in lending rates appear to have encouraged more South Africans to secure bonds
- Gauteng continues to lead the country in home loan approvals, maintaining its position as the top-performing province in the country
- Briefly News spoke with Bradd Bendall, BetterBond’s National Head of Sales, to gain further insights
Bradd Bendall, BetterBond’s National Head of Sales, said the strengthening rand could pave the way for another interest rate cut before year-end. He explained that a firmer currency helps keep inflation under control, with consumer prices staying near the lower end of the Reserve Bank’s 3% to 6% target range.
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Prime lending rate unchanged
Even though the Reserve Bank kept the prime lending rate unchanged in September 2025, Bendall believes conditions could favour a reduction when the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meets again in November.
Bendall added that five repo rate cuts had already boosted market activity. According to BetterBond’s third-quarter data, home loan applications rose 11.6% quarter-on-quarter and 14.6% year-on-year. Since volumes bottomed out late in 2023, activity has climbed by 26%. BetterBond’s latest Property Brief (October 2025) also noted that a steady decline in the Construction Input Price Index (CIPI), alongside a rise in the Residential Property Price Index (RPPI), has narrowed the buyers’ market range, signalling stronger demand from prospective homeowners.
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Rise in bond approvals
He said that lower lending rates over the past year drove a noticeable increase in bond approvals, giving the housing market a boost. BetterBond’s latest data shows a 17% year-on-year increase in bond approvals nationwide, with eight of the nine regions recording growth. Gauteng continues to lead, with Johannesburg’s South-Eastern suburbs, the Greater Pretoria area, and the North-Western suburbs ranking as the top three performers for home loan approvals.
Bendall explained that over the past year, the fastest growth in home demand has come from buyers earning under R15 000 a month, who are typically more responsive to lower interest rates. Home prices for this income group have risen by 9%. He also highlighted that average home prices have increased year-on-year for all buyers. Since 2019, property values have grown by 10.7%, and by 8.7% for first-time buyers, reflecting continued confidence in real estate as a solid investment.
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First-time buyers
Bendall highlighted that first-time buyers have seen the average deposit required for a home loan decline notably. According to BetterBond’s latest Property Brief, deposits for this group have fallen by 15% since mid-2024, while the average for all buyers has dropped by 12%. He added that with income growth remaining modest, deposit requirements are expected to remain largely unchanged through the rest of 2025.
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- Briefly News also reported that a woman who grew up in an RDP home showed off the before and after of the work she did to improve it.
- People were amused by an RDP owner who was happy that owning the home allowed her to do whatever she wanted in front of her mother.
- A woman older than 100 years spent her entire life without a home until she was approved for an RDP after applying in 1996.
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Proofreading by Kelly Lippke, copy editor at Briefly.co.za.
Source: Briefly News
