There is an increase in the demand for Maisonette properties going by almost double growth in their preference from the fourth quarter property market survey by the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA).
- •KBA Housing Index’s quarterly distribution of house transaction by type however indicates apartments are still popular but a share of its completed transaction declined during the period under review compared to quarter three of 2023.
- •Regarding house types, apartments, although still dominant, saw a decline in their share of completed transactions, accounting for 40.19 percent in the current quarter compared to 54.35 percent in third quarter of 2023.
- •Bungalows maintained a relatively steady share at 29.91 percent, while Maisonettes experienced a notable increase to 29.91 percent from 15.22 percent in the previous quarter.
The average price of a maisonette stood notably higher at KSh 20.17 million, followed by apartments at KSh 17.51 million and bungalows at KSh 10.78 million.
Specifically, houses in the high-market segment averaged KSh 21.25 million, compared to KSh 17.58 million for the mid-market segment and KSh 10.97 million for the low-market segment.
According to the Index, most home buyers sought lower-segment houses in the year 2023 even as real estate developers grappled with a sustained overall wobbly decline in housing units’ prices for most part of the year.
There was a marked demand uptick within the low-market segment in the last quarter of the year 2023, accounting for 62.3 percent compared to 48 percent recorded in the previous quarter.
The trend followed an overall sustained negative pace of house prices growth in the first three quarters of the year despite recording a modest 1.53 percent decline in the last quarter, driven by a slight strengthening of demand towards the end of the year.
The Index, which tracks housing price movements from the last quarter of the year 2021, shows a persistent and uneven negative-territory home prices growth trajectory, in a trend that the KBA-HPI associates with corresponding fluctuating activity in the construction sector.
‘’A fluctuating trend was evident in the construction sector; starting with a slight increase in the first quarter (3.06 percent), followed by a decrease in the second quarter (2.55 percent) and a subsequent rise in the third quarter of 2023 (3.8 percent),’’ reads the Index, whose base evaluation rate was set in the year 2013.
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