In a best case scenario, house price inflation could be about 5.2% at the end of the year. (iStock) Despite the devastating effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global economy, in SA, house prices are growing in real terms - something that hasn't happened for some time. Annual house price inflation was 4.1% at the end of March 2021, according to the latest Lightstone Residential Property Index released this week. In addition, it is also worth noting that currently inflation is at less than 3%, so with house price inflation at 4.1%, it is the "first time in a while" that there is house price growth in real terms, says Paul-Roux de Kock, analytics director at Lightstone.