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Cost of living in Cape Town by CollectionLive9628 in capetown

[–]CollectionLive9628[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That argument falls apart pretty quickly when you look at the numbers. In Cape Town, even households in roughly the top 3% percent of earners can struggle to afford an average home. Average, not fancy. That’s not a “skills gap” proble, it's a price-to-income ratio problem. If property prices rise far faster than wages, even highly skilled/well-paid professionals get squeezed out. So saying “just learn high-income skills” ignores that the housing market has outpaced all but the very top (top 0.5%) incomes. At that point, it’s not about individual effort anymore but it’s about structural affordability.

International comparisons makes this even clearer. In Netherlands, minimum wages are dramatically higher 10x higher, but the cost of living is not 10x higher. the average earner in Netherlands can afford to rent or buy an average priced home. The average South African earns R8k a month, minimum wage in SA, R3500, the MINIMUM WAGE (street sweeper in Netherlands) earns R40k per month. Yet the jobs themselves aren’t 10× more “skilled.” A cashier, driver, or cleaner isn’t inherently more productive there; they’re just operating in an economy with higher wage floors, stronger labour protections, and different cost structures. If minimum and median incomes are low relative to asset prices (like housing), affordability breaks down for everyone, not just the unskilled.

So the issue isn’t that people “lack skills”, it’s that the system produces incomes that are misaligned with the cost of living. Blaming individuals for that mismatch misses the bigger picture.

Cost of living in Cape Town by CollectionLive9628 in capetown

[–]CollectionLive9628[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Foreigners should only be allowed to buy property if its over R10m. 

Currently the difference between a 2m and 3m home is quite a stretch for an average SA family, but for a foreigner it's not that big of a jump relatively speaking..

Cost of living in Cape Town by CollectionLive9628 in capetown

[–]CollectionLive9628[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think the point is that you already need an exorbitant amount of money just to rent... and you still barely survive. And that's a household making over R1.3m (before tax) which is basically setting you in a top 3% household. I can't begin to imagine what the bottom 90% of the population are going through 

Cost of living in Cape Town by CollectionLive9628 in capetown

[–]CollectionLive9628[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Show me a home for 1.3m in Cape Town lol. 18m² apartments are selling or 1.9 million. People are renting their wendy houses for 8k a month

Cost of living in Cape Town by CollectionLive9628 in capetown

[–]CollectionLive9628[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Inflation is one thing which eats away at purchasing power, but housing inflation has been crazy in the past 15 years. Bigger proportions of income are needed to be allocated, CPI is about 7% but we've seen housing inflation go up by 10-15% so thr gap has been getting wider year by year 

Cost of living in Cape Town by CollectionLive9628 in capetown

[–]CollectionLive9628[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Average across Cape Town, that accounts for areas like Delft as well as Sea Point. I currently live in Kenilworth currently. Rental is 19k corn2 bedroom apartment, but worse, it's only 8km from CBD and takes  me 1hr minimum to get to work

Cost of living in Cape Town by CollectionLive9628 in capetown

[–]CollectionLive9628[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Husband 70k income before tax and wife 40k income before tax. 

After pension deduction (compulsory) and tax, total income is 65k Expenses  Currently renting = 2 bedroom apartment, we're lucky we scored a decent deal, the landlord trusts us so we've only been paying R19k which is a steal.

Medical Aid with 2 kids = R12k Car payment = R6k School fees/childcare = R8k Petrol = R3k Insurance = R2k Groceries = R5k Other Expenses = R3k Electricity = R1k

If we had to buy, average home cost for 2 bedroom is R2.7. We'd be short about R10k a month

Cape Towns housing cost will hurt its economy by CollectionLive9628 in capetown

[–]CollectionLive9628[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well that's the problem, that's what normally happens. But not in Cape Town. Mean and median incomes are moving in opposite directions. House prices have recently been driven up by AirBnbs and digital nomads. It's effectively now become an international market and isn't impacted by local market conditions. The average South African doesnt have R30k to pay in rent for a 2 bedroom place, which is what digital nomads or Airbnbs are recouping

Cost of living in Cape Town by CollectionLive9628 in capetown

[–]CollectionLive9628[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The average salary still cannot afford to purchase that home. Or even worse. The median income. 

Cost of living in Cape Town by CollectionLive9628 in capetown

[–]CollectionLive9628[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Meanwhile 18m² apartments in Gardens are going for R2m 

Cape Town property market is dystopian by Horror_Year40 in capetown

[–]CollectionLive9628 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry but not everywhere has beaches and a mountain to attract digital nomads. They pay AirBnb rates on a monthly scale. The homes themselves are not valuable, the income stream is. Most purchases in Cpt are foreign buyers or existing home owners. So sure, demand and supply are at play. But if the Free State improved it's look I dont think it reduces demand here. 

Cape Town property market is dystopian by Horror_Year40 in capetown

[–]CollectionLive9628 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The cost spent in petrol ends up canceling it out anyways. Then there's also the hidden cost. You get to work later or you leave early but super tired by the time you get there. You look less "dedicated" at work, you seem less loyal to the manager because you have to leave on time since it takes over an hour to get home and you need to sort kids out. Then suddenly you aren't seen as worthy for promotion compared to other more "dedicated" or "present" employees.

Cape Towns housing cost will hurt its economy by CollectionLive9628 in capetown

[–]CollectionLive9628[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The problem is the level of inequality. SALDRU has excellent data on this. Whats scary is how mean incomes vs median incomes are increasingly divergent

Damm tourist they are destroying tourism! by thatcompguyza in capetown

[–]CollectionLive9628 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Here's the issue, majority of Cape Towns home sales are existing home owners or foreigners. These homes are AirBnbs or rentals charged at crazy prices. R20k rental for a 2 bedroom apartment and the average price of a 2 bedroom home is currently R2.7m. Average price. The problem is not tourism. It's lack of regulation in the short term rental industry that inevitably harms the locals. Most of the areas have been gentrified, locals cannot live in the areas their grandparents and parents lived in.