A new data review questions Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis's claim that foreign property buyers focus only on luxury homes. Daily Maverick examined Airbnb listings and found overseas hosts offering more modest flats in areas such as Gardens and Oranjezicht.
Hill-Lewis wrote in a December 2025 op-ed that foreign buyers are not the villains in Cape Town’s housing story. He noted that their share of purchases rose from 2.5% to 4.3% between 2020 and 2024, but said they cluster in luxury Atlantic Seaboard neighbourhoods.
Daily Maverick scraped Airbnb data and identified 755 overseas-based hosts running 993 Cape Town listings after removing commercial operators. Sample properties valued by an estate agent ranged from R1.5 million to R2.5 million and were located outside the high-end coastal zones.
Lightstone figures showed foreign buyers paying an average R2.7 million in 2024, more than double the local average, yet also accounting for 15% of sales in the R3 million to R5 million range. Reports from other firms noted purchases in Muizenberg, Blouberg and Hout Bay.
