08/09/2026
๐ฅ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐น ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ ๐น๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด
As fuel and transport costs continue to rise, increasing numbers of SA homebuyers are reconsidering the financial appeal of living on the outskirts of cities or in smaller towns and starting to look again at bigger centres and established suburbs closer to employment, schools, shopping and other amenities.
So says Denese Zaslansky, CEO of the FIRZT Property Group, who notes that in the past nine months, petrol prices have risen by 5,27% to almost R27 a litre, while the cost of diesel has increased by more than 11% to more than R30 a litre.
โAnd for households already under financial pressure, the impact extends well beyond the cost of filling the car. Fuel accounts for an estimated 35% to 55% of road freight operating costs, which means that higher fuel prices feed into the cost of transporting goods and can ultimately push up the prices that consumers must pay for a multitude of products.
โThey can also contribute to broader inflationary pressure, potentially putting upward pressure on interest rates and also increasing the cost of household debt.โ
As a result, she says, many buyers are beginning to realise that the cheapest house is not necessarily the cheapest place to live. โWhen you add up the cost of travelling to work every day, taking children to school, shopping and getting to other essential services, the apparent saving achieved by buying further out, where land and house prices are generally lower, can disappear surprisingly quickly.
โWe see prospective buyers becoming increasingly aware of this and looking at the total cost of living in an area, rather than just the purchase price of the property. So higher fuel prices may soon do more than squeeze household budgets: they could start to have a major influence where South Africans choose to live.โ
Transport is already the third-largest contributor to household consumption expenditure nationally, while the burden is particularly severe for lower-income households, who often spend more than 20% of their income on transport...
Click the link to read more https://www.firzt.co.za/news/rising-fuel-cost
