Mid to lower prices dominate property market in Free State

The Free State has 2.96m inhabitants and is known as South Africa’s granary, with agriculture dominating the province’s landscape – although mining is its largest employer and the economy has focused increasingly on manufacturing and export.

Sasolburg is also home to petrochemicals company Sasol, a world leader in the production of fuels, waxes, chemicals and low-cost feedstock from coal.

The centrally located province is home to 4.8% of SA’s population of 62m and accounts for between 4 to 5% of South Africa’s residential property sales each year.

Free State: % of national property sales

Of Free State’s 2.96m people, 1.94m are adults and there are more than 880 000 households. Headline results from the current census reveals that the Free State (and North West) are growing at a slower rate than the rest of South Africa’s provinces. Lightstone data shows that there is almost enough formal residential property growth to house the current levels of population growth, but likely signifies an informal sector that is moving provincial boundaries in search of employment and greener pastures.

There are 115 000 non-residential properties and 540 000 residential properties. Of the residential properties, 25% are valued at more than R500k, 10% at more than R1m and just 1% are within Estates, and 7% within Sectional Titles.

The Free State has one metropolitan municipality – Mangaung, which means “place of cheetahs” and includes Bloemfontein and surrounding towns – and four district municipalities, two of the largest being Matjhabeng (which includes Welkom, Virginia, Odendaalsrus and Allanridge), and Maluti-a-Phofung (which includes almost all the land of the former homeland QwaQwa). The district municipalities are in turn divided into 19 local municipalities.

Free State property sales

In 2022, 33% of all sales transactions in the province took place in Bloemfontein at an average value of R1.5m. Bloemfontein is the provincial capital and home to the Supreme Court of South Africa.

Botshabelo recorded the most sales under R100k, while Bloemfontein, followed by Sasolburg led the way in the R500k to R1m category, followed by Welkom, Manguang and Kroonstad.

Sales per town

Popular tourism towns

Parys in the northern Free State is a popular tourist destination, and positioned as a weekend getaway from nearby major cities. Parys is widely known as the home of the Vredefort Dome, a large asteroid impact site and South Africa’s 7th World Heritage Site. The vast majority of sales in Parys were between R500k-R1m, followed by R100k-R500k.

Clarens is also a popular getaway for those wanting to escape city life. Clarens is in the eastern Free State, on the foothills of the Maluti Mountains, and was established in 1912 and named after the town of Clarens in Switzerland, where Paul Kruger had been exiled to live out his last days. Property sales in Clarens were more evenly spread across the price bands, and volumes exceeded Parys at the upper end above R2m.

Clarens and Parys sales

Retail activity

Bloemfontein was the busiest town in terms of mall activity, with nearly 1.3m visits in August 2023. Welkom was next with just more than 245k, followed by Sasolburg at around 142k, Phutaditjhaba with just over 99k and Bethlehem with just under 93k.

The table below shows the number of Spur and KFC eateries in each province, which gives an indication of disposable income relative to other provinces – and the numbers recorded in Free State are consistent with its population size – second lowest in the country. The Northern Cape has the lowest population and the least number of Spur and KFC outlets.

Clarens and Parys sales

Total population of South Africa in 2022, by province

Source: Statista 2023