Polls won’t slow down property market - bankers

The five-storey building in Tena on the east of Nairobi, Kenya's capital, is tiled from top to bottom, giving it a classy look that should appeal to tenants.

A new application has been unveiled in the market to allow prospective homeowners search for details on properties of their choice within Nairobi.

After a protracted slowdown, the real estate sector is on a rebound, driven by declining interest rates.

The mortgage system in Kenya boasts of affording many families their own homes. However, with most Kenyans current disposable income, it is clear that not many can afford a decent house through this system, writes ALLAN OLINGO

Rents in documented neighbourhoods in urban centres have risen ten times faster in the last nine months compared to last year. This is the highest increase ever recorded – as landlords pass on costs associated with interest rates and income tax to tenants.

After a tumultuous 2011 that climaxed with wrong signals being sent on the sanctity of title deeds following the Syokimau demolitions, property dealers will this year breath a sigh of relief following plans to launch a comprehensive property index.

The prices of houses targeted at the middle to high-income segment of the population continued cooling in the second quarter of this year. The cooling was consistent with the slowing economic growth and erosion of disposable incomes due to high inflation.

Kenyans have got property buying fever in a big way, and with more gains predicted, foreign money is also boosting the country’s hottest investment sector.

Findings of a research by property firm HassConsult has confirmed rampant pricing speculation trends in the real estate sector, even as market correction continues in the middle and high end sectors of the residential market.

Although land prices have remained stagnant last year due to the effects of Covid-19, there is the optimism of a rebound in the real estate sector.

Developers are putting up expensive villas in the bush for wealthy investors.

?After a period of sustained growth, prices have come down in most satellite towns, as housing supply outstrips demand.