How much you need to earn to live in SA’s 10 most expensive suburbs

Dreaming of buying a home in Clifton or Camps Bay, or perhaps Sandhurst in Johannesburg?

You would need to earn a household income of more than R840 000 a month to afford the average property in South Africa’s most expensive suburb.

READ | British podcaster Steven Bartlett lists Bishopscourt home for R189 million

Cape Town dominates

Cape Town dominates the country’s luxury property market, with nine of the 10 most expensive residential neighbourhoods located in the Mother City.

But buying into these exclusive areas is becoming an extraordinary financial undertaking, particularly for buyers who cannot afford a deposit.

Based on property rankings compiled by Seeff exclusively for The South African, using 2025/26 Lightstone and Propstats data, Clifton tops the list with an average reported property price of R25 million.

We’ve calculated how much buyers would need to earn to afford properties in each of the 10 suburbs, assuming they finance the entire purchase price through a home loan.

The calculations assume a 100% bond, a 20-year repayment period and an interest rate at prime of 10.75%.

Monthly bond repayments are limited to 30% of gross household income.

The salary needed to afford South Africa’s 10 most expensive suburbs

Suburb	Price	Monthly bond	Required gross monthly income
Clifton	R25m	R253 807	R846 024
Llandudno	R24.4m	R247 716	R825 720
Bantry Bay	R23m	R233 503	R778 342
Constantia Upper	R23m	R233 503	R778 342
Bishopscourt	R22.5m	R228 427	R761 422
Camps Bay	R22.5m	R228 427	R761 422
Fresnaye	R22.2m	R225 381	R751 269
V&A Waterfront	R20.2m	R205 076	R683 587
Higgovale	R18m	R182 741	R609 137
Sandhurst	R16m	R162 437	R541 455

Figures are rounded to the nearest rand. Income refers to gross monthly household income.

Clifton: Almost R850 000 a month

Clifton is South Africa’s most expensive suburb, with a reported average property price of R25 million.

A buyer financing the entire purchase price would need a R25 million home loan.

At 10.75% interest over 20 years, the monthly repayment would be approximately R253 807.

To keep that repayment within 30% of gross household income, the buyer would need to earn approximately R846 024 every month.

That translates into an annual gross household income of more than R10.1 million.

Even Sandhurst requires more than R540 000 a month

Johannesburg’s Sandhurst is the only suburb outside Cape Town to feature in the top 10.

Despite being the least expensive suburb on the list, its reported average property price of R16 million would still require a monthly bond repayment of approximately R162 437 if the entire purchase price were financed.

That means a household would need to earn approximately R541 455 per month to meet the 30% affordability guideline.

What about the other costs?

The monthly bond repayment is not the only expense associated with owning a luxury property.

Homeowners must also budget for:

• Municipal rates and property taxes
• Electricity and water
• Homeowners’ insurance
• Security and alarm services
• Garden and swimming pool maintenance
• Repairs and general upkeep
• Monthly levies where applicable

Buyers without a deposit would also need to consider transfer duty, conveyancing fees and bond registration costs, which are not included in the bond calculations.

The bottom line

The figures demonstrate just how expensive South Africa’s most exclusive residential addresses have become.

These calculations assume a bank is even willing to grant a 100% home loan.

Such financing is not guaranteed, and banks assess applicants individually based on their credit records, income, expenses and affordability.