Botswana’s homebuyers age shifts to 46 years
Lewanika Timothy | Monday September 14, 2026 08:14
The findings, contained in the latest Riberry Property Market Report quoted in the Bank of Botswana’s (BoB) August Monetary Policy Report, suggest that activity in the residential market is increasingly being sustained by older, financially established buyers who can withstand the country’s tighter lending environment.
At 46, the median buyer is also approaching the latter stages of their working life, potentially leaving a shorter period over which to repay a mortgage before retirement.
“The median age of residential property buyers increased to 46 years during the quarter, which is the highest level recorded since 2021,”
“This suggests that the current market activity is increasingly supported by more established buyers with greater financial capacity in the current lending environment.” researchers said.
The rising age of buyers comes against a backdrop of house prices that remain stubbornly high despite the residential market showing signs of cooling.
According to Riberry, the average net price of residential properties sold during the first quarter of 2026 was P933,488, representing a marginal 0.2% decline from P935,342 in the last three months of 2025. The decline followed lower average prices across several residential markets, including Greater Gaborone, Lobatse, Selebi-Phikwe, Jwaneng, Maun and the Central District.
However, the slight reduction has done little to bring home ownership within reach of the average worker. The BoB’s latest Monetary Policy Report places average monthly earnings for citizen employees in the formal sector at P6,865.
At that income level, the average residential property sold during the first quarter was equivalent to more than 11 years of a worker’s total gross earnings, before deductions, living expenses, mortgage interest and other costs associated with purchasing a house.
The affordability gap is even wider for thousands of workers earning below the formal sector wages, particularly younger employees who have had less time to accumulate deposits, establish credit records or increase their incomes. Property prices have risen sharply over recent years, especially within Greater Gaborone, where limited serviced land, growing urban demand and high construction costs have supported valuations.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, the average residential selling price climbed to close to a million with officials figures from the central bank placing the figures placing it at P947,639 after jumping by 24.3% quarter on quarter. Prices subsequently breached the P1 million mark during parts of 2025 before weakening as credit conditions tightened. The latest findings indicate that buyers priced out of standalone houses are increasingly turning towards apartments and other multi-residential developments.
“The report highlights a growing preference for apartment living, with apartments accounting for a significant proportion of residential property sales during the period under review,” the central bank researchers said. They said the shift away from standalone houses was being driven by affordability, convenience and changing household needs.
Demand remained concentrated in the low- and medium-cost segments for both purchases and rentals, while activity in the high-end residential market weakened as expensive borrowing constrained buyers’ capacity to qualify for larger loans.
“The divergence between strong activity in low- and medium-cost and weaker performance in the upper-end market points to a segmented property market,” researchers said. They added that demand was increasingly concentrated in properties offering greater affordability.
The shift represents a sharp reversal from the property boom seen in previous years, when residential valuations and rental prices rose strongly and property owners accumulated growing equity in their homes. While established owners have been able to refinance appreciating properties and unlock cash, first-time and younger buyers have faced a progressively higher barrier to entry. Previous BoB research found that mortgage financing was increasingly being used to refinance existing properties rather than fund new developments.
The tightening mortgage market has coincided with broader weakness in credit extension. Commercial bank credit contracted by 1.6% in the year to June 2026, reversing growth of 10.3% in the corresponding period last year. Household lending contracted by 4.5%, compared with growth of 7.7% in June 2025, as rising interest rates, economic uncertainty and tighter bank lending standards discouraged borrowing. The cost of money has risen sharply since last year as government borrowing, tight market liquidity and inflationary pressures pushed interest rates higher. The BoB increased the policy rate by 200 basis points in April, while commercial banks subsequently raised their prime lending rates.
Higher interest rates reduce the size of the mortgage that households can qualify for and increase monthly repayments for borrowers on variable-rate facilities. Banks have simultaneously become more cautious about affordability and default risks as economic conditions weaken.
The BoB’s Credit Conditions Survey for March to May 2026 showed that demand for residential property loans remained broadly unchanged during the quarter. However, lending conditions tightened as banks responded to heightened economic pressures and rising loan defaults.
The apparent stability in mortgage demand therefore did not signal a recovery. Instead, it showed a market struggling to grow, with potential buyers either postponing purchases, lowering their price expectations or shifting towards cheaper housing.
“For the months of June to August 2026, demand for residential property loans is expected to decline, reflecting continued affordability constraints,” researchers warned.
Mortgage growth had already slowed during previous quarters as banks grappled with a liquidity squeeze and households became reluctant to take on long-term debt. In some periods, demand for residential property loans remained flat, interrupting what had historically been one of the banking sector’s most dependable areas of credit growth.