Drought dulls thirst for some of Africa's most expensive homes

The country's top tourist destination is in the throes of the worst drought on record

Cape Town’s water crisis is more than an inconvenience for home owners. It’s also affecting the value of their property, which includes some of Africa’s most expensive real estate, according to data from Standard Bank Group Ltd., South Africa’s biggest lender by assets.

House price inflation in the city, while still outstripping the rest of the country, slowed to 9.7 percent in the fourth quarter, from as high as 15 percent two years ago, Standard Bank economist Siphamandla Mkhwanazi said in a note Friday. And it’s just the beginning, he warned.

“Although it would be difficult to separate and quantify the reasons