SAPOA Q3 2026: national office vacancy falls to 11.8%, the lowest in more than six years

South Africa's office market tightened again in the third quarter of 2026. The South African Property Owners Association's (SAPOA) latest office vacancy survey puts national vacancy at 11.8%, down from 12.1% in the second quarter and well below the 16.8% peak of mid-2022. That is the lowest national figure in more than six years. Almost 70,000 m² of office space was taken up on a net basis during the quarter, average asking rentals were 7.2% higher than a year earlier, and 70.4% of the office space currently under construction is already pre-let.

Cape Town still leads, Johannesburg still lags

Cape Town remains the tightest of the major office markets at 6.9% vacancy, followed by Tshwane at 8.9% and Durban at 9.3%. Johannesburg sits at 14.7% and Gqeberha at 15.7%, the highest of the metros surveyed. Every metro is better off than in early 2022, but by very different amounts. Durban has improved the most, with vacancy down 6.8 percentage points over that period, followed by Cape Town (6.1 points) and Johannesburg (4.8 points). Tshwane has improved by 3.2 points and Gqeberha by only 1.2 points.

For occupiers, this means negotiating conditions now depend heavily on the city. In Cape Town, tenants looking for good space should expect fewer options and firmer landlords. In Johannesburg there is still plenty of choice, especially outside the best nodes, and incentives such as rent-free periods and tenant installation allowances are still on the table.

The recovery is spreading to older buildings

SAPOA describes the recovery as becoming more broadly based. Prime-grade vacancy ticked up slightly to 4.7%, while C-grade vacancy improved the most of any grade, falling 80 basis points to 15.6%. A-grade vacancy stands at 9.5% and B-grade at 15.9%. The gap between prime and secondary stock is still wide, but it is no longer only the best buildings filling up. Part of the improvement in older stock likely comes from obsolete office buildings being converted to residential and other uses, which takes competing space off the market altogether.

Asking rentals still reflect that quality divide. SAPOA's averages are R234/m² a month for prime space, R149/m² for A-grade, R123/m² for B-grade and R101/m² for C-grade.

Little new supply on the way

Developers remain cautious about building speculatively, and most new office space is only going ahead with a tenant already signed. SAPOA says improving occupancy, positive absorption and limited new supply point to a progressively tighter market, although conditions still vary a great deal by node and grade. For tenants with leases expiring in the next year or two, particularly in Cape Town and Durban, it makes sense to start the search early.

You can compare current asking rentals on offices to let in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and Pretoria, or start from offices across South Africa.

Source: BusinessDay, 8 October 2026.

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