Is rentvesting worth it in South Africa in 2026?

The arithmetic that makes 2026 different

Cape Town gross rental yields sit around 9% in 2026, while Johannesburg yields cluster around 13.7%. Prime is at 10.25%. That spread — JHB yield minus prime — is the single most important number in any rentvesting argument: when it's positive on a leveraged basis, the investment property is paying its own bond before maintenance.

The naive version of the argument stops there. The real version compares total net worth at horizon, not monthly cash flow, because owning a primary residence still builds equity through amortisation and appreciation while renting builds nothing on the property side at all.

What the model actually compares

The Randly Rentvesting Engine puts both strategies on equal footing. Each strategy must consume the same monthly cash; whichever is cheaper invests the surplus into an opportunity portfolio at your equity-return assumption. That's the only way to avoid the classic comparison cheat where one strategy gets to keep idle cash.

It then sums property equity (value − bond balance) and the opportunity portfolio at horizon to give a final net worth for each side. The verdict is whichever is larger.

Where rentvesting tends to lose

Two scenarios kill it: low actual JHB yield (a tenant default, structural vacancy, or buying at the wrong price), and high CPT property appreciation that you forfeit by not owning. Stress-test both before committing. If your Cape Town target appreciates 8% a year and JHB yield holds at only 8%, owning usually wins.