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Land prices in Nairobi rose to an eight-year high in the quarter ended December 2023, with the average price per acre hitting above Sh200 million.
According to the Hass Land price index released Monday, the average price of an acre across the city’s suburbs grew at the fastest pace since 2015, an indication that the property sector has fully recovered from the dip occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The average prices rose by 3.3 per cent, with the price per acre averaging Sh201 million up from Sh194 million in the previous quarter.
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.
“The average price per acre in the suburbs has now crossed the Sh200 million mark, helped by the 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 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. The price per acre in these towns averages Sh28 million.
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 per cent, pointing to renewed demand from investors looking to take advantage of the price stagnation seen in previous months,” Hassanali said.
On an annual basis, land prices in the suburbs rose by four percent as satellite towns saw a price gain of 9.3 percent, which was marginally better than the growth of nine 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 VICTOR AMADALA