Capetonians face higher property prices and longer queues as semigration to the Western Cape more than doubles over five years.Ask any Capetonian if they’re feeling the impact of increased semigration to the Western Cape and they’ll answer with a resounding ‘yes’.
Pre-2020, the majority of semigration in South Africa was the result of workers flocking to Gauteng in search of employment opportunities in the City of Gold. While the majority of semigration property purchases in the Western Cape are for the purposes of using the property as a main residence, the percentage of investment/rental purchases have been steadily increasing, comprising 30% of Western Cape semigration applications processed in 2023.
With the pandemic now subsided and tourism booming again in the Western Cape, property investors are making the savvy decision to purchase investment properties that can easily be rented out under both short- and long-term leases.Semigration first became a prominent buzzword in 2016 and then featured more prominently in 2020, with the onset of the Covid pandemic.