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Insights Centre
Sectors

Real estate and property development

Where building is happening, how fast, what kind, and what new infrastructure is about to open up.

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Value added by construction across SADCUS$36.8bn4.7% of output · +0.3% a year, last five years
SADC exports of the pillar's goodsUS$1.3bn2024
Deals in the last 12 months30US$4.6m where the value is confirmed · 126 tracked in all
Subsectors81 with trade data

What this page answers

  • Where is building happening, how fast, and what kind?
  • Is the city spreading outward or getting denser?
  • What is announced or approved, and where is new infrastructure about to open up land?
  • Where are rents and prices moving?

Tanzania has SADC's largest construction sector, at US$10.4bn

Value added by construction, US$, latest year, with its share of each economy

TanzaniaUS$10.4bn13.7% of the economy
South AfricaUS$8.7bn2.4% of the economy
AngolaUS$5.0bn4.3% of the economy
DRCUS$3.9bn5.5% of the economy
ZambiaUS$2.5bn10.2% of the economy
BotswanaUS$2.3bn12.6% of the economy
ZimbabweUS$1.1bn2.6% of the economy
MadagascarUS$1.1bn6.7% of the economy
MauritiusUS$743m5.8% of the economy
MalawiUS$358m3.2% of the economy
MozambiqueUS$212m1.1% of the economy
NamibiaUS$183m1.5% of the economy
EswatiniUS$146m3.2% of the economy
SeychellesUS$126m6.9% of the economy
LesothoUS$56m2.7% of the economy
ComorosUS$24m1.6% of the economy
Source: UN Statistics Division·dotzedw Insights Centre

DRC leads SADC on urban people

Urban population, people, latest year for each country. Click a bar for that country's real estate page.

010m20m30m40m50mDRC50.9mSouth Africa41.3mAngola27.9mTanzania26.0mMozambique13.3mMadagascar10.8mZambia10.1mZimbabwe6.9mMalawi3.9mBotswana1.7mNamibia1.6mLesotho1.1mMauritius486kEswatini336kComoros300kSeychelles56kmedian 5.4m

Source: dotzedw·dotzedw Insights Centre

Where it sits

Output per worker in each country

DRC gets the most from each worker in construction

Value added per person working in construction, US$, 2024, with the industry's share of each country's jobs and output. SADC median US$7,274.

DRCUS$145,5830% of jobs, 6% of output
BotswanaUS$37,8847% of jobs, 13% of output
MauritiusUS$13,9979% of jobs, 6% of output
TanzaniaUS$11,8643% of jobs, 14% of output
AngolaUS$10,7623% of jobs, 4% of output
ZambiaUS$10,0293% of jobs, 10% of output
EswatiniUS$7,3857% of jobs, 3% of output
ZimbabweUS$7,2743% of jobs, 3% of output
South AfricaUS$6,4368% of jobs, 2% of output
MadagascarUS$3,8552% of jobs, 7% of output
NamibiaUS$3,0657% of jobs, 2% of output
MalawiUS$1,4863% of jobs, 3% of output
ComorosUS$1,1837% of jobs, 2% of output
LesothoUS$1,0108% of jobs, 3% of output
MozambiqueUS$5443% of jobs, 1% of output
Source: UN Statistics Division and ILO·dotzedw Insights Centre

Choose a country in the header for output by province where it is published.

Subsectors

8 in this pillar

Residential (formal market)

Tracks
New building in the largest cities, reported house prices and rents, how fast towns are growing, and credit to households and firms.
Signals ahead
Roads, water and sewer extensions and substations reaching undeveloped land; plot servicing tenders; estate launches.
Average residential rent, Gauteng, JohannesburgR9,600 a monthQ1 2026National average R9,582 a month.PayProp Rental Index, reported by The Citizen
Average residential rent, Western CapeR12,125 a monthQ1 2026Up 7.4% on a year; the first province with average rent above R12,000.PayProp Rental Index, reported by The Citizen and PayProp
Average residential rent, KwaZulu-Natal, DurbanR9,583 a monthQ1 2026PayProp Rental Index, reported by The Citizen
Average house price, WindhoekN$1.87 millionQ2 2026Up 10.7% on a year. Namibia N$1.46 million, up 7.4%.FNB House Price Index (Namibia), reported by The Brief
Residential rents, LuandaUp an estimated 20% to 30%2025 to early 2026Over 2025 and early 2026, strongest in mid-range and affordable housing.AngoCasa, Prestige Properties Angola 2026, reported by Forbes África Lusófona
Luxury apartment rent, Costa do Sol, MaputoAbout US$4,500 a month2024Office rents have fallen since 2021.Knight Frank, Mozambique market note

Select a figure for its trend. Source: As published, World Bank, dotzedw deals tracker.

Open these deals in the deals tracker

What SADC sells abroad across real estate

SADC exports by subsector, 2024, US$. A product can count in two subsectors.

Construction and building materialsUS$1.3bn+29% on five years earlier
Source: CEPII BACI·dotzedw Insights Centre

Who is moving

Open in the deals tracker

30 deals in the last 12 months across SADC, placed in subsectors by what they say.

Sources and method