Johannesburg’s governance and infrastructure problems have left its commercial property market at least $12 billion behind Cape Town, offering one of the clearest indications yet of how municipal performance can shape investment within the same economy.
Comparable office space in Cape Town is now valued at about twice the price of similar property in Johannesburg, according to research by Gmaven, the company behind one of Africa’s largest commercial real estate databases.
The study, examined 25,700 properties and more than 1,500 major transactions completed since 2020.
Although the total commercial property stock in each city is currently valued at around $22 billion, Gmaven estimates that Johannesburg’s properties would be worth at least $12 billion more if they attracted valuations comparable to those in Cape Town.
The finding means the divide is not simply about Cape Town having more buildings or a larger commercial property market. Instead, investors are attaching significantly different prices to similar assets in the two cities.
