Retail rentals nationally: where space is cheap, and where it is not

Retail is the most-listed category on the site behind offices — around 623 active listings — and also the one where asking rentals vary the most from node to node. The national average sits around R210/m², but that single number hides a wide spread.

The value end

Secondary strip and neighbourhood retail is where rentals are lowest: Westmead has been asking around R120/m², Primrose similarly, and Carletonville a little above that.

The middle

Cape Town CBD (around R190/m²), Durban (around R180/m²) and Bryanston (around R240/m²) sit in a broad middle band — established retail in reasonably strong nodes without the extreme premium of the top end.

The premium end — and a caveat

Claremont, Brackenfell, Pretoria and Nelspruit have recently shown the highest asking rentals in the sample, in some cases several times the national average. These are also the smallest samples on this list — a handful of well-located listings can pull an average well above what a typical unit in that node would actually ask, so treat the top end as directional rather than a reliable going rate.

Every node above has its own building and rental-history detail on its area page.

Figures are asking rentals drawn from listings marketed on Commercial Property, not transacted deals, and are quoted per m² per month. Thin recent samples make single-year averages move around, so we lean on ranges.

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