A young couple finds their perfect starter home. They can afford the bond. Their salaries qualify. Their credit record is spotless. Then the transfer duty invoice lands in their inbox and the dream collapses.
This is the real affordability crisis in South Africa. Not the bond repayments. Not the monthly instalments.
The upfront costs attached to buying a home are becoming one of the most significant barriers to mobility on our property ladder.
South Africa is full of ironies and here comes another one.
The government says it wants to increase homeownership, yet the transfer duty system quietly punishes the people trying to enter or move through the market.
