Nairobi is the only city in Africa among the top 45 global cities that posted growth last year, the latest Prime Global Cities Index by Knight Frank shows.
Ranking 32nd, Kenya’s capital posted a 3.5 per cent change in growth in the period from 2021 first quarter to 2022 first quarter.
The city recorded a 2.4 per cent change in six months from Q3 2021 to Q1 2022 and a 1.3 percent change between Q4 2021 and Q1 2022.
According to Tarquin Gross, head of Residential Agency at Knight Frank Kenya said this growth can be attributed to pent-up demand.
“After two years of the pandemic, as we entered Q4 2021 there was a sense of normalcy returning. I believe buyers’ sentiments to get on with life motivated their purchasing resumption plans,” Gross said.
He added that with the pandemic seemingly behind, many expatriates are likely to return to the country.
Nairobi has topped the continent in the past two surveys, ranking position 34 globally and only one in Africa in Q4, 2021 with a growth of 1.1 per cent.
The same survey ranked the country as the top city in Africa for innovation and among the top 100 globally in the last financial year.
Nairobi is ahead of Cape Town which was second, Kampala third with Cairo and Johannesburg at fourth and fifth place respectively.
Dubai is the city with the fastest rising prime prices in the review period with a 58.9 percent change recorded in the 12 months, and a 23.2 per cent change in six months from the third quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2022.
International buyers have been drawn by its relative value, its government’s handling of the pandemic and the lifestyle on offer.
North American cities took the next four positions, with Miami City taking second position and Toronto in third place. San Francisco and Los Angeles complete the first five positions.
They eclipsed the Russian capital, Moscow which came second in q4,2021 with prices up 42.4 per cent boosted in part by an attractive mortgage subsidy scheme and tight supply which has been exacerbated by the pandemic and construction delays.
The Prime Global Cities Index is a valuation-based index tracking the movement of prime residential prices across 45 cities in the world using data from the Knight Frank research network.
The report indicates a slowing down in the price growth of prime properties since the start of the pandemic, though on average prime cities continue to register nine per cent in annual growth.
According to the report, the biggest slowdowns over the last quarter were across the Asia Pacific.
Wellington, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen saw their annual rates of growth slide by 17 per cent, 15 per cent, eight per cent and seven per cent respectively between Q4 2021 and Q1 2022. BY THE STAR