LOOK: How your bond has increased over 4 years

From one extreme to the other: the interest rate in South Africa has gone from being at historic lows in 2020 to continually climbing since 2022.

Yesterday’s 0.5% increase was the 10th hike in a row, and while we are all aware of the growing impact this rate is having on our finances, it is troubling to note just how much it has risen over the past two years.

To illustrate the rate changes, we start in January 2019 and track it all the way until today. Seeing it in a picture really does bring it home.

January 2019 – 10.25%
March 2019 – 10.25% (=)
May 2019 – 10.25% (=)
July 2019 – 10% (-0.25%)
September 2019 – 10% (=)
November 2019 – 10% (=)
January 2020 – 9.75% (-0.25%)
March 2020 – 8.75% (-1%)
April 2020 – 7.75% (-1%)
May 2020 – 7.25% (-0.5%)
July 2020 – 7% (-0.25%)
November 2020 – 7% (=)
January 2021 – 7% (=)
March 2021 – 7% (=)
May 2021 – 7% (=)
July 2021 – 7% (=)
September 2021 – 7% (=)
November 2021 – 7.25% (+0.25%)
January 2022 – 7.5% (+0.25%)
March 2022 – 7.75% (+0.25%)
May 2022 – 8.25% (+0.5%)
July 2022 – 9% (+0.75%)
September 2022 – 9.75% (+0.75%)
November 2022 – 10.5% (+0.75%)
January 2023 – 10.75% (+0.25%)
March 2023 – 11.25% (+0.5%)
May 2023 – 11.75% (+0.5%)

For homeowners who have had a bond since January 2019, we have also calculated the approximate instalments based on the following home loan amounts over a 20-year repayment period:

Bond repayment on a R1m home