PayProp’s State of the Rental Industry Survey – now in its fourth year – is the best barometer of what property professionals across South Africa are thinking – and according to the results published this month, they’re as upbeat as ever!

A massive 79.1% of those we surveyed said they were optimistic about the future of the rental industry, while only 2.3% felt negative.

That optimism comes through in their business decisions too. Only 9.2% of survey respondents said they were considering selling their agencies, down from a worrying 22% in our previous survey. To a different point, 30.5% report that they’d considered buying another agency, with 10.3% having gone through with it.

In fact, business growth proved by far the biggest priority for agents this year. Almost half (44.3%) of respondents said “signing more landlords” was their main priority in 2023, while “improving the customer experience” came a distant second, gaining just 16.1% of the vote.

In contrast to agents’ optimism, landlords’ confidence is lower, the survey found: 47.7% of participants said their landlords were considering selling properties. But with this figure as high as 53.3% in our previous survey, sentiment is improving after a difficult couple of years.

Rental agents can also point to the strongest rental growth in half a decade to convince landlords to stay the course.

Our most in-depth survey yet

Besides taking the temperature of the sector, the PayProp State of the Rental Industry Survey also looked at agents’ relationships with landlords and tenants, their use of technology at work, and their demographics.

For the first time ever, we also asked agents about the commission and other fees that they charge. Click through to the survey results below to see how your procurement commission, lease fees and inspection fees stack up against other rental agencies.