Drought Dulls Thirst for Some of Africa's Most Expensive Homes
- Cape Town taps may be turned off in April because of drought
- Slowdown in house-price inflation may intensify: Standard Bank
Property sits by the Molteno reservoir as Table mountain stands beyond in Cape Town.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Cape Town’s water crisis is more than an inconvenience for home owners. It’s also affecting the value of their property, which includes some of Africa’s most expensive real estate, according to data from Standard Bank Group Ltd., South Africa’s biggest lender by assets.
House price inflation in the city, while still outstripping the rest of the country, slowed to 9.7 percent in the fourth quarter, from as high as 15 percent two years ago, Standard Bank economist Siphamandla Mkhwanazi said in a note Friday. And it’s just the beginning, he warned.