First-time homeowners buying later, staying put for many years

First-time homeowners in South Africa are entering the market later than ever - and staying put for many years.
Of South Africa's approximately 7 million residential properties, 5.9 million are owned by natural persons (as opposed to 1.1 million being owned by legal entities). Of these properties, 69% are owned by one person, 30% by two people and 1% have more than two owners.
An analysis of data by Lightstone shows that 68% - just more than 4 million - of the 5.9 million residential properties registered at the Deeds Office are owned by First Time Owners, which includes First Time Buyers and recipients of RDP/subsidised houses.
Even when we exclude all properties valued under R400k (current value, not purchase price) to adjust for RDP, First Time Owners still account for 59% of stock. 
After the property market crash of 2007/2008, the proportion of stock bought by First Time Buyers increased and peaked in 2020, but then declined over the next two years.
Ten years ago, most First Time Buyers were aged between 20-30, but this has changed and 30-40 year old First Time Buyers now outnumber the 20-30 year olds.
While First Time Buyers are older than they were ten years ago they are spending more on their first home than their predecessors. The following graph (see article online) illustrates the average value of property that First Time Buyers of a certain age are buying, compared to ten years ago. Rather than purchase prices Lightstone uses the current value of the properties, to make it comparable. On average 23 year olds now buy properties valued 4% higher than 10 years ago. The ratio with which the values of current purchases exceed those of 10 years ago ranges between 1% and 4% for the under 30 year olds, but is much more significant (4%-8%) for the ages between 30 and 40.

More than 50% of First Time Owners have had their properties for more than 20 years

More than half of First Time homeowners have owned their homes for more than 20 years, and within this group we find that 43% are owners of houses under R400k in value.

Most First Time Buyers were under 40, and bought properties which are worth less than R1m in current value, when they bought their homes

Most First Time Buyers were under 40 when they bought their homes, but 42% of them are now above 60 and still occupy the same home.

If we look at the current trend of First Time Buyers, most sales are on properties valued between R400k and R1m, and coming from 30 - 40 year olds.

Single First Time Buyers are becoming more prevalent.
Single ownership for First Time Buyers has grown from 67% 10 years ago to 72% over the last two years.
Of those First Time Buyers who bought recently, 10% bought in Estates, 67% in Freehold and 23% in Sectional Schemes.

The make-up of buyer type within the different property types can be seen below. Just more than 20% of Estate sales are to First Time Buyers whereas more than 50% of Freehold sales are going to First Time Buyers.
read article with associated graphs online