Buying or selling a home in Gqeberha will always be more than a numbers game and therefore the value of credible data cannot be understated in telling a story.

I have made no secret of my love of our city and why I feel it offers a lifestyle that is as affordable as it is wonderful.

What I did not know until very recently is that the stats underscore my sentiments.

In a recent blog posted on my website I mentioned an article from 2024 that indicates Port Elizabeth ranks as the top city in Africa when listing locations where owning a home is more advantageous than renting.

The piece cited research by Numbeo, an international online database of cost of living, real property prices and quality of life statistics.

Numbeo used its price-to-rent ratio to put GQ at the top of the pile on the continent.

When buying to let, it takes the average cost of ownership and divides it by the actual rental income received or estimated rent to be paid.

The lower the value, the more advisable it is to buy a home. Conversely, higher values suggest it may be better to rent.

Numbeo bestowed a price-to-rent ratio of 6.3 to Gqeberha, with second-placed Durban attributed a score of 9.2 followed by Douala in Cameroon with 9.7.

It is worth noting Durban’s positioning on the list as you may have noticed an increasing number of ZN number plates on the roads of our humble berg.

You may even have wondered whether there was an exodus from the city that once proudly called itself “South Africa’s Playground” and you may not have been entirely wrong.

While many Durbanites have chosen to relocate to the Western Cape to play their part in fuelling SA’s semigration trend, others are choosing the Friendly City because homes here offer more bang for their buck.

It is estimated that GQ’s average property price is roughly half that of Cape Town and Joburg.

The looting and riots that rocked Durban in 2021, as well as concerns over how the city is being run, has prompted a greater number of residents to look for alternative places to live and work.

As much as Bayonians like to complain about roads lacking maintenance, revolving-door politics and a crumbling inner-city, those from KZN will tell you they find GQ comparatively painless.

It goes without saying that lower house prices are a drawcard and the friendliness of locals is not unlike that found in their home province.

PE has long been given the tag of being a sleepy city, but it may well have been a slumbering giant all along.

More and more South Africans, especially those from KZN, are waking up to exactly that fact.