Western Cape property guide

Province Overview

Arguably one of the most picturesque landscapes in the world, the Western Cape province not only offers chic city living apartments but also breathtaking agricultural properties.

Young professionals prefer Cape Town CBD living, whilst the larger family homes scattered throughout the Northern and Southern Suburbs of the city attract family buyers. If you are in the market for retirement and holiday properties the Garden Route is the destination for you with gems like George and Knysna to chose from.

The various rental property options available in the Western Cape ensure that prospective tenants will be able to find exactly what they are looking for. Cape Town’s City Bowl is a hotspot for young professional tenants, while the Atlantic Seaboard is known for its movie-worthy rental properties.

With its sweeping vistas of mountains, vineyards, and ocean it is easy to see why people fall in love with this picturesque South African province. From young creatives to the older generation - everyone will find their slice of paradise here - whether it is in the buzzing City Bowl or the laid-back Knysna!

Those in the market for a holiday home also flock to this province in the hopes of finding an escape from city life, which sees many eventually retiring to their previous holiday destinations.

Interesting Facts

  • With a total area of 129 370 square kilometres, the Western Cape is roughly the size of Greece. It’s the country’s fourth-largest province, only slightly smaller than the Free State, taking up 10.6% of South Africa’s land area and with a mid-2006 population of 4.7-million people.
  • Visitors to the Western Cape can disembark at international airports in Cape Town and the city of George, or at the ports of Cape Town, Mossel Bay or Saldanha.
  • Saldanha, north of Cape Town, is South Africa’s only natural harbour, and notable harbour for iron exports and the fishing industry. Other towns include Worcester and Stellenbosch in the heart of the winelands, George, a centre for indigenous timber and vegetable production, Oudtshoorn, known for its ostrich products and the world-famous Cango caves, and Beaufort West on the dry, sheep-farming plains of the Great Karoo.
  • The Western Cape is home to the smallest of the world’s six floral kingdoms, the Cape Floral Kingdom, which is characterised by fynbos and the protea family, and contains more plant species than the whole of Europe.
Western Cape property map
Explore Western Cape towns
Albertinia (49), Arniston (1), Ashton (9), Atlantis (5), Aurora (3), Barrydale (1), Beaufort West (5), Bellville (183), Bettys Bay (46), Blaauwberg (135), Blackheath (8), Blouberg (292), Blue Downs (31), Boggomsbaai (8), Bonnievale (5), Bot River (4), Brackenfell (76), Bredasdorp (4), Caledon (10), Calitzdorp (36), Cape Agulhas (1), Cape Town (2209), Ceres (1), Clanwilliam (25), Darling (4), De Doorns (3), De Kelders (6), Delft (43), Durbanville (86), Eersterivier (35), Elands Bay (1), Elsies River (12), Fish Hoek (31), Franschhoek (6), Gansbaai (299), George (336), Glentana (5), Goodwood (81), Gordons Bay (272), Gouritsmond (5), Grabouw (13), Grassy Park (1), Great Brak River (41), Greyton (4), Groot Brakrivier (18), Grotto Bay (9), Hartenbos (110), Heidelberg (5), Hermanus (136), Hopefield (5), Hout Bay (75), Jacobs Bay (5), Kalbaskraal (1), Khayelitsha (17), Kleinmond (75), Knysna (124), Kommetjie (3), Kraaifontein (210), Kuils River (69), Ladismith (49), Langebaan (152), Macassar (3), Malmesbury (100), Mcgregor (25), Melkbosstrand (43), Milnerton (474), Mitchells Plain (41), Montagu (46), Moorreesburg (1), Mossel Bay (650), Muizenberg (3), Napier (20), Noordhoek (19), Oudtshoorn (60), Paarl (176), Parow (166), Paternoster (10), Piketberg (4), Plettenberg Bay (31), Porterville (13), Prince Albert (23), Pringle Bay (17), Riversdale (40), Riviersonderend (1), Robertson (46), Rooi Els (1), Saldanha (93), Sedgefield (21), Simons Town (16), Sir Lowrys Pass (1), Somerset West (269), St Helena Bay (64), Stanford (7), Stellenbosch (292), Still Bay (10), Strand (315), Strandfontein (1), Struisbaai (9), Suiderstrand (2), Swellendam (9), Touws River (3), Tulbagh (4), Uniondale (6), Van Wyksdorp (49), Vanrhynsdorp (1), Velddrif (46), Villiersdorp (36), Vleesbaai (11), Vredenburg (9), Vredendal (1), Wellington (44), Wilderness (47), Witsand (1), Worcester (17), Yzerfontein (29)
Latest real estate news in Western Cape view all news in Western Cape
Lifestyle & Architecture
Noble Resorts begins construction on second building at luxury retirement resort in Simon's Town
03 Mar 2023
After selling out the Mariner apartments - the first residential building in Noble Resorts Harbour Bay in Simon’s Town on the Cape Peninsula - construction has started on the second building, the Admiral and NobleCARE medical precinct, with completion set for December 2023, reports exclusive marketers, Pam Golding Properties.
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Market & Opinion
South Africa's Major Metro Housing Markets See Increase in Sales Despite National Slowdown
20 Feb 2023
Dr. Andrew Golding, CEO of the Pam Golding Property group, notes that although unit sales in South Africa's national housing market are slowing down, there has been a significant increase in sales in the five major metros during the post-pandemic period. Dr. Golding explains that if we exclude the 2021 rebound, or split those sales equally between 2020 and 2021, then the number of sales last year (2022) was the highest recorded in the past decade.
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Market & Opinion
Cape Town home owners advised to look out for new property rates valuations
17 Feb 2023
With consumers under pressure to make every cent count in the current challenging economic climate, Cape Town home owners are advised to take note of the 2022 municipal valuations of their properties as soon as they become open for public inspection and objection on 21 February 2023, says Basil Moraitis, regional head of Pam Golding Properties in the Western Cape.
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Market & Opinion
Rental properties in the Southern Suburbs are increasingly popular as stock shortages loom
06 Feb 2023
Cape Town’s Southern Suburbs has long been a popular residential area, especially with families looking to live near good schools and amenities but a spike in demand in the fourth quarter of 2022 driven by semigration has further fuelled the market with stock shortages looming in many suburbs.
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