South African homeowners are desperately looking for decent service delivery in the country, with a desire for improved utility and municipal services topping the list of reasons to move for the fifth consecutive quarter.The survey polls commercial property brokers in major metros – Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni , Tshwane, eThekwini, Cape Town and Nelson Mandela Bay – to gauge sentiment and influencing factors in the property market.
The current share of transactions citing this reason is at 43.7% – up from 37.5% in Q4 2023, but lower than the peak of 49.3% in Q1 2023.“We believe that various infrastructure and services deterioration in various areas and regions has been driving this,” said Loos. “This is not to say that financial pressure hasn’t intensified in recent years – it may well be that the surge in the search for better local government and utilities-related services and infrastructure may be ‘drowning out’ this motive somewhat,” added the property expert.