Report reveals most Instagrammed cities in SA

The annual report looks at Instagram activity in the country's three leading cities and examines whether trends in the virtual world have any impact on real-world property prices.

Says Crispin Inglis, co-founder of PropertyFox, “Instagram has become a powerful social and economic force, setting trends, putting individual Instagrammers in positions of influence, placing restaurants and bars on the map - even influencing purchasing decisions.

“PropertyFox has innovated its model around the consumer and one of the truest and most effective avenues into a consumer’s perception is through their social media engagements. We wanted to build a picture of what the virtual neighbourhood – the Instahood – looked like in South Africa in 2016.”

PropertyFox worked with research house Metric and pulled a total of 137,883 Instagram posts (excluding foreign accounts as much as possible) to get a view of what South Africans are saying about their own neighbourhoods. “There were no big surprises, but the information provided fascinating layers to look at from a lifestyle and property perspective.”

Some key results from the survey include:

Most Instagrammed cities in 2016:

1. Cape Town: 89,858
2. Johannesburg: 30,758
3. Durban: 17,267

The most Instagrammed neighbourhoods:

Cape Town:

• Camps Bay – 7,184
• South Peninsula – 4,530 (Hout Bay being #1 suburb at 1,596)
• City Bowl – 2,549 (Bo-Kaap being #1 suburb at 1,287)
• Southern Suburbs – 2,453 (Constantia being #1 suburb at 1,121)
• Atlantic Seaboard (excluding Camps Bay) – 2,205 (Clifton being #1 at 729)
• West Coast/Blouberg – 1,218 (Table View being #1 at 479)

Johannesburg:

• Sandton – 2,275
• Rosebank – 643
• Braamfontein – 613
• Rivonia – 238

Durban:

• Umhlanga – 1,297
• Westville – 166
• Durban North – 135
• Musgrave – 113

The top bars and restaurants:

Cape Town:

• Crumbs and Cream - 476
• Shimmy Beach Club – 223
• Café Caprice – 162

Joburg:

• Café Cru at Monte Casino – 349
• Marble – 82
• Tasha’s – 34

Durban:

• The Oyster Box - 93
• Moyo - 55
• Robsons Real Beer - 33

“It came as a sweet surprise that – with Cape Town being voted Conde Naste’s best food city in 2016 - the most hashtagged restaurant was Crumbs and Cream. We’re guessing there were some kids involved there… Joburg leaning towards the bustling Café Cru at Monte Casino as its most hashtagged establishment was not a shock as this is a destination with so much to offer and the iconic Oyster Box drawing most attention in Durban was a bit of a no brainer,” says Inglis.

PropertyFox also did some research into the most affordable suburbs close to the most Instagrammed neighbourhoods. “While Camps Bay may be a bit too pricey for some, with an average property price of nearly R11,862m in 2016, you can get as close as 8km away in Green Point and pay on average R2,6m. Or in Jozi, Rosebank may be a bit pricey but nearby Parkhurst and Parktown North are only a few kilometres away and you’ll pay on average R3,5m less to live there. Westville is a good option in Durban if Umhlanga isn’t in the budget.”

Download the full PropertyFox Virtual Realty Report.