The Hass Land price index for the fourth quarter of 2023 showed that the average price of an acre across the City’s suburbs, has grown at the fastest pace since 2015.
In a press statement, HassConsult noted that the quarterly price increase of 3.3 percent was the highest since the First Quarter of 2015, offering the best sign yet that the property sector in the City is recovering from the dip occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fourteen out of the 18 suburbs recorded positive price movement in the quarter, as Muthaiga, Ridgeways and Loresho stood out in quarterly price growth at 3.7 percent, 3.6 percent and 3.1 percent respectively.
“Instructively also, the average price per acre in the suburbs has now crossed the Sh200 million mark, helped by fast rise of prices in areas such as Langata, Ridgeways, Loresho, Muthangari, which offer a mix of affordability, ease of access and mixed use zoning,” said Ms Sakina Hassanali, Head of Development Consulting and Research at HassConsult.
In Nairobi’s satellite towns, prices went up by 3.7 percent in the quarter, the fastest growth since the Second Quarter of 2022.
Satellite towns that are served by better access infrastructure along the Thika Road, Mombasa Road and Ngong Road arteries continued with their steady price growth on both quarterly and annual basis, led by Syokimau, Ngong and Ruiru.
“Kiambu, which has recently perceived overpricing on high speculation, jumped to the head of the queue in quarterly price growth at 9.4 percent, pointing to renewed demand from investors looking to take advantage of the price stagnation seen in previous months,” noted Hassanali.
On an annual basis, land prices in the suburbs rose by 4.0 percent as satellite towns saw a price gain of 9.3 percent, which was marginally better than the growth of 9.0 percent recorded in 2022.
Growth of land prices in satellite towns continues to outpace that of suburbs on higher demand as the cost per acre is within reach of more commercial and private developers.
By Michael Omondi