Western Cape property guide

Aerial photo of Cape Town
Beautiful Cape Town landscape
View over Hidden Valley farm in Stellenbosch
Aerial view of Knysna on the Garden Route

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
Agulhas (1), Albertinia (47), Arniston (1), Ashton (6), Atlantis (3), Aurora (1), Baardskeerdersbos (1), Beaufort West (7), Bellville (230), Bettys Bay (23), Blaauwberg (115), Blackheath (19), Blouberg (227), Blue Downs (17), Boggomsbaai (5), Bot River (3), Brackenfell (64), Breede Rivier (1), Caledon (7), Calitzdorp (31), Cape Agulhas (1), Cape Town (2023), Ceres (1), Citrusdal (2), Clanwilliam (16), Constantia (1), Darling (1), De Kelders (2), Delft (38), Durbanville (77), Eersterivier (32), Elsies River (10), Fish Hoek (16), Franschhoek (4), Gansbaai (85), George (269), Glentana (4), Goodwood (96), Gordons Bay (135), Gouritsmond (2), Grabouw (7), Great Brak River (41), Greyton (3), Groot Brakrivier (9), Grotto Bay (13), Hartenbos (124), Heidelberg (2), Hermanus (58), Hopefield (1), Hout Bay (72), Khayelitsha (10), Kleinmond (41), Knysna (86), Kommetjie (7), Kraaifontein (151), Kuils River (74), Ladismith (51), Lamberts Bay (4), Langebaan (26), Macassar (1), Malmesbury (49), Matroosfontein (3), Melkbosstrand (43), Milnerton (386), Mitchells Plain (36), Montagu (49), Mossel Bay (531), Muizenberg (6), Noordhoek (11), Oudtshoorn (21), Paarl (152), Parow (196), Paternoster (1), Philadelphia (1), Piketberg (2), Plettenberg Bay (9), Porterville (13), Prince Albert (16), Pringle Bay (9), Riversdale (24), Riviersonderend (1), Robertson (33), Rooi Els (3), Saldanha (9), Sedgefield (7), Simons Town (9), Sir Lowrys Pass (2), Somerset West (156), St Helena Bay (18), Stanford (6), Stellenbosch (151), Still Bay (30), Strand (118), Strandfontein (1), Struisbaai (4), Suiderstrand (6), Swellendam (6), Touws River (2), Tulbagh (3), Uniondale (6), Van Wyksdorp (52), Vanrhynsdorp (4), Velddrif (16), Villiersdorp (37), Vleesbaai (12), Vredenburg (10), Vredendal (2), Wellington (13), Wilderness (48), Worcester (2), Yzerfontein (4)
Latest real estate news in Western Cape view all news in Western Cape
Second home and semigration buyers are flocking to these small towns
Market & Opinion
Second home and semigration buyers are flocking to these small towns
19 Sep 2023
Local and international buyers are rediscovering South Africa’s beautiful small towns with their often top-quality lifestyle, and locations not too far from bigger towns or cities
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South Africa's residential property market is defying economic challenges
Market & Opinion
South Africa's residential property market is defying economic challenges
14 Sep 2023
With the easing in the consumer price inflation rate in recent months hopefully indicating that the interest rate hiking cycle is at an end, despite September's fuel hike, market sentiment in South Africa’s housing market remains positive, as indicated in the Pam Golding Residential Property Index, by the ongoing recovery which rose to 4.1% in July (2023), says Dr Andrew Golding, chief executive of the Pam Golding Property group.
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Demand for student accommodation a key driver in Stellenbosch's buoyant residential developments market
Market & Opinion
Demand for student accommodation a key driver in Stellenbosch's buoyant residential developments market
06 Sep 2023
Such is the surge in demand for student accommodation in the university town of Stellenbosch in the Cape Winelands, that investors – and parents – are snapping up units in sectional title developments designed to cater to this lucrative market.
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Rental growth hits highest level since 2017
Market & Opinion
Rental growth hits highest level since 2017
25 Aug 2023
Quarterly year-on-year rental growth continues to accelerate in South Africa, reaching its highest level since the final quarter of 2017. PayProp’s most recent Rental Index shows that rental growth reached 4.4% in both April and May, followed by 4.2% in June 2023. The average national rent figure now stands at R8 375.
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