A home for under R900 000? It’s possible! And here are 10 suburbs in Johannesburg where your first home could be situated.
Your first home in Gauteng
Ready, set, go! It’s time to buy your first home in Johannesburg, but you’re worried about your budget? Drop the stress levels as we make your search that much easier. As a first time home buyer, you’re in luck in Gauteng. There are big benefits to dipping your toes into the property pool for the very first time, especially when your budget isn’t as big as you’d like it to be.
No transfer duty for homes priced under R900 000
In South Africa, for homes that are priced under R900 000, you pay no transfer duty. Typically, a transfer duty is paid by you as a first time home buyer, when purchasing your home. But, if your first home costs less than R900 000, you won’t pay a cent towards transfer duties. And, if your income brackets falls within the programme’s parameters, you could be eligible for a FLISP subsidy. As a first time home buyer, if you earn between R 3,501 and R 22,000 per month, you may be eligible to apply for this subsidy.
It may still blow your mind to think about it, but finding your first home for under R900 000 is entirely possible, and you may be surprised to find absolute gems in one of your favourite suburbs. To help make your search even easier, we’ve collated information on our top 10 suburbs in Gauteng, where the median asking price for residential property is approximately R900 000.
Here are our top budget-friendly 10 suburbs in Gauteng:
1. Wilgeheuwel
You’ll find this in-demand suburb in Roodepoort, found on Johannesburg's West Rand. The median asking price for a property in this conveniently located suburb is just R900 000. Buying your first home in Wilgeheuwel gives you the suburban dream: pretty homes, located close enough to everywhere you need to, including the office, children’s schools, and entertainment facilities. There are three major shopping malls close to Wilgeheuwel, and as a first time home buyer, you’ll be spoilt for choice when house hunting here!
2. Winchester Hills
With a median asking price of R899 000 for a property in Winchester Hills, you could pick up a pretty townhouse or find a sweet spot in a complex with ease. Enabling you easy access to the Johannesburg CBD and excellent schools for your children, Winchester Hills could be where you make your first home purchase.
3. Vorna Valley
As a suburb that’s quickly expanded and grown, Vorna Valley has seen much development over the past decade. Located in Midrand, Vorna Valley homes are often in demand, as numerous townhouse complexes have been built to accommodate the increased desire for first time home buyers to put their roots down in this convenient suburb. Where the average asking price for a home in Vorna Valley is just R830 000, you could quite easily be next in line to secure your spot in this pretty suburb.
4. Sagewood
Living in Midrand brings with it the big benefit of being easily able to access the major travel routes to and around the CBD, without having to sacrifice suburban living. Finding your first home in Sagewood is a budget-friendly way to do it, with the average asking price for a property in Sagewood coming in at just R800 000. With secure developments and an abundance of complexes to choose from, Sagewood may be where you make your first home purchase for under R900 000.
5. Rosettenville
A quick glance at property listings in this Johannesburg suburb made my eyes dance: yes, I really did see a four-bedroom house for sale for just under R700 000 in Rosettenville. As the median asking price for property in this Johannesburg South suburb rests at R795 000, I’d definitely be looking here as a first time home buyer in Gauteng. It’s a suburb that’s diverse and rich in potential, with the added benefit of being close to the Johannesburg CBD.
6. Auckland Park
You might read the name and immediately think of our country’s national broadcaster, but Auckland Park is home to far more than this. Situated in the north of Johannesburg, Auckland Park has become a vibrant, busy place to be, that’s somehow kept its suburban charm. You can expect to pay R779 000 for the average abode in this Johannesburg suburb, and you’d be making a very good choice indeed.
7. Turffontein
You know it for the historic racecourse, but Turffontein is far more than a one-horse race town! Living a simple suburban life is easy here, as Turffontein’s location makes it easy to get to where you need to go. And, with the average asking price for a home in Turffontein settled in at R750 000, it’s a budget-friendly choice for the first time home buyer too.
8. Bloubosrand
If you’re looking for a secure apartment, sweet townhouse, or stand-alone home in the north-west region of Johannesburg, you’ll find the one you want in Bloubosrand. As the median asking price for properties in Bloubosrand comes in at just under R750 000, you could pick up that sweet deal in this suburb.
9. Florida
It started out as a farm, but Florida is far more than that nowadays. Part of the Roodepoort region in Johannesburg, Florida is close to an abundance of amenities, including the incredible Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden. Living in Florida makes good money sense, as you can expect to pay R540 000 for the average home in this Johannesburg suburb.
10. Bruma
Originally known for its fabulous flea market and lake, Bruma has undergone a significant makeover in recent times. Nowadays, this suburb is a bargain-hunter’s paradise, with Bruma Oriental City attracting many visitors and tourists. That said, Bruma is also a property bargain-hunter’s dream, with the media asking price for an average property in the region swinging in at just over R500 000. What more could you ask for, as a first time home buyer?
Disclaimer:
This report is compiled using search activity and median asking prices of residential properties listings on Private Property’s website in August 2019. To maintain consistency over time and assist comparison between areas, data is only presented for areas with 100 or more listed properties and grouped by the following common attributes of residential properties in South Africa: • type (houses, townhouses or flats) Some effort is also made to exclude outliers from the analysis. A feature of Private Property’s Report is that it provides insights based on current asking prices rather than the eventual sale prices of property transactions. This is an important distinction, as the two measures provide slightly different insights into the property market. Private Property’s median asking price data provides a view of all properties being offered for sale on its website. This has the advantage of including insight into many more properties than are eventually sold in each quarter. Although asking prices are usually slightly higher than sale prices, they have the advantage of being available to analyse well in advance of the eventual transactions. Care must be taken when interpreting prices of listings on Private Property’s website, as it differs from some analysis of sale prices that track individual properties as they are offered for resale over time.