# Buying a house in rands vs bitcoin

By 80eight Team — 28 October 2025

Canonical: https://80eight.io/blog/buying-a-house-in-rands-vs-bitcoin

Check the graph below which shows the cost of an average South African home purchased for R1 million in 2017 and then escalated in value by the average price increase over the intervening seven years.

## The deflationary power of bitcoin

What this demonstrates is the deflationary power of bitcoin (BTC). A house that originally cost nearly 16 BTC in 2017 is now worth R1.23 million in ZAR and just 0.6 BTC.

![](/blog-assets/cc84e163-68bec40fd2abb13e17358f34-sa-house-prices-in-bitcoin.webp)

## You were better off buying bitcoin than a house

Here’s another way to read this chart: you were better off investing in BTC than a house. Sure houses have utility and emotion all wrapped up in a neat little bundle, but you could also have rented over the last seven years and rather bought 16 BTC back in 2017.

Had you done that your original investment of R1 million (16 BTC) would today be worth R32 million.

It’s a discussion our children and grandchildren will no doubt have for decades to come. “If only I bought bitcoin when it was at R2 million!”

Let that sink in for a moment.

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