South Africa's home-loan market rarely moves in one direction at once, but the latest bond-originator data points to something unusual: buyers at opposite ends of the age spectrum are both spending noticeably more than they were a year ago — for very different reasons.
According to BetterBond data covering the 12 months to July 2026, buyers under 30 spent 8.3% more year-on-year, with an average purchase price just over R1.3 million. At the other end, buyers over 60 — sometimes dubbed "silver surfers" — pushed their average purchase price up 6.48% year-on-year to R2.4 million. The steepest single jump was in the middle: buyers aged 31–40 saw average purchase prices rise 8.4% to just over R1.6 million.
Bradd Bendall, BetterBond's National Head of Sales, framed it as two different stories rather than one market trend: "Rather than exiting the market, these older buyers are leveraging their financial stability… while younger buyers are finding creative opportunities to enter the market. Both groups are demonstrating that there is no single path to property ownership."
What's behind the older-buyer trend
Buyers over 60 aren't necessarily buying bigger. Much of this group is downsizing out of large family homes, but reinvesting the proceeds into secure, well-located lifestyle estates and complexes rather than banking the difference — which keeps their average purchase price high even as square metreage falls.
What's behind the younger-buyer trend
For buyers under 40, the picture is less about bigger budgets and more about smarter structuring. BetterBond notes rising use of co-buying (two or more buyers combining affordability on a single bond), sectional-title units in mixed-use developments, and a marked bunching of purchases just under South Africa's R1.21 million transfer duty threshold — the point below which no transfer duty is payable, effective since 1 April 2025 and unchanged for the 2026/27 tax year (SARS). Our transfer duty 2026/27 piece sets out the confirmed table and worked examples, and the bond & transfer cost calculator applies it to your own numbers. Buying just under that line is one of the few costs a buyer can control directly, and it shows up clearly in the data.
Seeff's figures add another layer: middle-class buyers under 35 now account for roughly 30% of purchases in Seeff's own sales data — evidence that, despite well-documented affordability pressure on this age group, those who do buy are not buying timidly.
Why it matters for you
If you're a first-time buyer, the data is a reminder that the "typical" buyer profile has shifted — the average first-time buyer is now 37, not fresh out of a first job, and our first-time buyer guide walks the full journey step by step. If cost is the constraint, structuring your offer near (not over) the R1.21 million transfer duty threshold, or exploring co-buying, are both legitimate levers worth discussing with a conveyancer or bond originator before you make an offer to purchase.
If you're in the 60+ bracket weighing a downsizing move, the trend suggests you're not alone in choosing "smaller footprint, same or higher value" over simply banking equity — but every bond and cash-flow decision at this life stage is personal, and this article isn't a substitute for advice tailored to your own finances.
What to watch next
BetterBond and rival originator ooba typically publish updated monthly application data through the rest of 2026; a widening or narrowing of this age gap over the next few releases will say more about whether this is a genuine structural shift or a one-quarter blip.
Figures as at 9 September 2026. Sources: BetterBond 12-months-to-July-2026 buyer data as reported by Bizcommunity (24 Aug 2026) and Property Professional (31 Aug 2026); Seeff under-35 purchase share as reported by Bizcommunity; SARS transfer duty tables — R1,210,000 zero-rated threshold effective 1 Apr 2025, unchanged for 2026/27 (R&LD sign-off, as at 9 Sep 2026).