Employers are willing to pay a premium for people with sufficient skills and experience
South Africans buying their first homes now earn 64% more than the average formal-sector worker, highlighting a widening salary gap between those entering the property market and ordinary earners.
The gap has grown sharply over the past four years, with the average salary of first-time homebuyers increasing by 15.5% in real terms, compared with growth of just 2.8% in average formal-sector salaries.
The figures are contained in BetterBond's July Property Brief, which says affordability for first-time buyers is fundamentally linked to earnings. "It seems clear from these data sets that employers are willing to pay a premium for people with sufficient skills and experience," the report said.
The stronger earning power comes as first-time buyers face rising property prices and higher borrowing costs.
