Still a proudly KwaZulu-Natal brand but with an ever-expanding national footprint, Tyson Properties continues to be a trailblazer in South Africa’s somewhat turbulent property sector.
Every year, the company has exceeded its forecasts, grown its footprint and increased its market share and service offering. It takes a special company to not only navigate a global recession in 2008 and but also a two-year pandemic and ongoing national energy and economic challenges only to emerge stronger and better year on year.

Interest rates plunged to the lowest levels in 2020 and then steadily climbed, placing the property market under stress. Dynamic and flexible, the Tyson Properties team persevered and proved to be the perfect guide for buyers and sellers.

Building a company on a sound foundation is what founder and CEO, Chris Tyson, set out to do in 2005 and strong professionalism, intuitive knowledge of its markets and solid relationships have seen the company thrive.

Setting up that first office in Morningside together with business partner Gavin Cunningham and a staff of just six now seems to be a long way away. After the 2015 opening of its offices in Gauteng and the Western Cape, Tyson Properties experienced an aggressive growth spurt across these three provinces as the company began to build strong market share within a very short space of time. By 2021, Tyson Properties had registered its best ever growth year during the most difficult of times with turnover having grown by 25 percent.

In 2022, Tyson Property Holdings was created to support and grow the group’s regional operations.
Tyson Properties is now double the size it was when Tyson took the plunge and decided to go national nine years ago. “I can still remember agonising over whether to expand nationally. We had 18 offices in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) at the time. We actually opened Cape Town and Johannesburg simultaneously. There are now six offices in Gauteng and seven in the Western Cape with a staff complement of 450 members nationally,” he says.

Tyson Properties opened in East London two years ago and the company now plans to extend its reach still further. “We’ve done exceptionally well and feel that the time is now right for us to move into other areas,” he adds.
Despite a subdued economy, Tyson Properties registered growth throughout 2023, adding three new offices in Somerset West, Overstrand (Betty’s Bay, Kleinmond and Pringle Bay) and Pietermaritzburg and welcoming 30 new agents in Gauteng.
Throughout, the company has embraced change and moved with the times.
Tyson’s approach is to spot the often-unexpected opportunities in different parts of the market as it evolves.
Tyson Properties is hitting the hotspots in the Western Cape with Cape Town itself as well as towns such as Somerset West and Paarl proving extremely popular.

Johannesburg remains the economic hub of the country and is the property market that never sleeps.
“Believe it or not, there are more people moving to Johannesburg every year than any other area in South Africa. So, it’s a massive market with a lot of entry-level buyers. While market conditions in and around Joburg remain under pressure, there are still a lot of deals being done,” he says.
Turning to his home province, Tyson says KZN remains both one of the most resilient and stable markets in the country. “The province has a lot to offer and property prices are still a lot more affordable than in other parts of South Africa. This, coupled with great weather, infrastructure and some really good schools makes KZN a great area in which to invest,” he observes.

Ballito is a hotspot right now. “That once-small coastal town is now abuzz with shopping centres, excellent government and private schools and development. While still giving the locals a feel of a coastal town, it has also become an area of choice for working in Johannesburg and living on the coast. The airport is only a 15-minute drive away and it’s a quick flight,” Tyson says.

But activity is not confined to the coast and Tyson says that there is a very real resurgence in the Midlands with areas such as Howick and Nottingham Road doing exceptionally well.
No matter where the change or what the new trend, he is confident that Tyson Properties will never be far away. As one of KZN (and the country’s) most iconic property brands, it has matured into a company that will always be a leader rather than a follower and one of which he can be proud.