The average price of land in Nairobi has risen by 0.24 percent in the second quarter of 2018 compared to an increase of 0.4 percent in 2017.
This is according to land price trends for the third quarter of 2018 by HassConsult which stated that land prices for both suburbs and satellite towns are cooling off as market awaits finer direction on the Government’s policy on affordable housing.
According to the report, land in satellite towns saw an increase of 0.59 percent over the quarter compared to a 0.5 percent drop in the preceding quarter of 2018.
The report noted that the slow growth in land prices over the quarter reflects a cautious approach by investors who are waiting for more granular details of the Governments plan to put up 500,000 affordable houses in the next four years under the Big Four Agenda.
Ridgeways was named as the best performing suburbs with prices in the area increasing by 2.92 percent while Mlolongo was the best performing satellite town with a 3.99 percent increase over the same period.
At the tail end among the suburbs was Donholm with prices dropping by 0.89 percent over the quarter while in the suburbs, Kitengela posted a 1.71 percent decline.
Upperhill continues to have the most expensive land at 558.3 million shillings per acre while Kiserian has the least expensive land at 7.1 million per acre.
On property price trends for the third quarter of 2018, there was a 1.1 percent increase over the quarter and 8.1 percent over the year with Kilimani and Muthaiga emerging as top performers with a 3 percent increase.
Overall, the detached housing market posted the strongest permission at 1.3 percent over the quarter while semi-detached houses posted an 11.8 percent over the year.
On an annual basis, Westlands suburb showed the strongest performance over the last year with prices in the area improving by 7.9 percent which has been attributed to the presence of a number of international hotel brands which have tapped Nairobi’s growing market for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) tourism.
On the rental front, asking rents continues to marginally rise over the quarter at 1.5 percent and 4.7 percent on an annual basis with apartments leading the pack on over the quarter at 3.5 percent while semi-detached houses topped on an annual basis at 11.5 percent.