Paul Arithi 
Ms. Sakina Hassanali, Head of Development, Consulting and Research at Hass Consult.
HassConsult has unveiled the Hass Land price index for the second quarter of 2024, showing that prices maintained an upward trajectory despite a tough economy and input costs for developers.
Land prices in the city’s 18 suburbs rose by an average of 1.3 percent per acre in the first quarter of 2024, while in the satellite towns the price was up by an average of 3.03 percent.
On an annual basis, the price of an acre in the suburbs rose by 5 percent, while in the satellite towns it was up by 11.2 percent.
Lavington and Spring Valley were ahead of the queue in price growth among suburbs in the first quarter at 4 percent and 3.8 percent respectively, while Kileleshwa was the only one to record a price decline at a marginal -0.1 percent.
The average price per acre in suburbs is now at KES 203.7 million, having crossed the KES 200 million mark for the first time in the last quarter of 2023.
“The growth in prices across 17 of 18 suburbs, despite the slowdown in pace in the quarter compared to the last quarter of 2023, shows that the upper end of the market is sustaining demand,” said Ms. Sakina Hassanali, Head of Development, Consulting and Research at Hass Consult.
In the towns, Kiserian, Limuru and Ongata Rongai led quarterly price gains at 9.4 percent, 8.4 percent and 7.8 percent respectively.
“Satellite towns are driving the revival of land as a competitive asset class with the average annual growth of over 10 percent. With interest rates projected by the Central Bank of Kenya to fall in coming months, the stable price growth seen over the last two years should make land even more attractive as an asset,” she added.
Satellite towns are now poised to overtake government Treasury Bills in annual returns. On an annual basis, 9 out of 14 satellite towns made double digit price gains, led by Ongata Rongai at 16 percent.
Developers have also shown a preference for areas whose prices are lower than the satellite town average of KES 28.8 million, as they keep an eye on overall costs due to higher building input prices.
SNAP SHOTS:
Ksh. 1 Million invested at the end of 2007 would have been worth KES. 12.06M if invested in land in Nairobi Satellite-14, KES. 6.85M if invested in land in Nairobi Suburbs-18, KES. 2.74M if invested in property (The Hass Sales Composite Index, All Properties), KES. 4.14M if invested in bonds and KES. 1.61M if invested in savings and only KES. 0.30M if invested in Equities.
The Hass Land Composite Index, Nairobi Satellite-14 index value was 1205.6 outperforming Nairobi Suburbs-18 which had an index value of 685.3, Gold 298.8, Live Cattle (CME) 194.6 and Crude Oil worst performing with only 93.0 index value.
Property Sale and Rent Prices Remain Steady Despite Economic Pressures;
• Property sales prices increased by 1 percent in Q2 2024, of the year, continuing a streak of growth.
· Nairobi’s Satellite towns led in property price growth with a 2.1 percent increase over the quarter, while Nairobi’s suburbs show a modest decline of 0.9 percent.
· Property market show resilience with price stability still being witnessed across most areas despite the growing cost of credit.
· Property rental prices remained steady at a 0.01 percent increase in the quarter despite economic challenges and restrained consumer spending.
· Rental yields are higher in Nairobi’s suburbs at 7 percent compared to it’s satellite towns at 4.8 percent. HassConsult Real Estate Limited
Segment with Highest Quarterly Increase in Rental Price Houses in Ongata Rongai ( +4.6% over last quarter) Kileleshwa (-12.0% over last year) All Properties
