Apartments in Kilimani and Kileleshwa registered the biggest fall in quarterly rent in the last quarter of 2020 at 4% and 2.6% decline respectively, according to real estate firm HassConsult. The annual drop amounted to 9.4% fall in Kilimani and 8.4% fall in Kileleshwa apartments.
Property prices for apartments in the areas also fell in 2020 due to the economic downturn caused by the pandemic. Apartment prices in Kileleshwa dropped by 9.9% while in Kilimani they fell by 8.6% in the last year as per the latest Hass Property Index.
”While smaller apartments dominate the new build market in Kilimani and Kileleshwa and provide middle income housing at lower ticket prices, the sheer volume of new stock created rental price vulnerability for larger and older stock during the economic slowdown caused by 2020’s global pandemic, resulting in rental price corrections.” said Ms. Hassanali, Head of Development Consulting and Research at HassConsult.
As the demand for apartments fell, the need for detached houses increased as high income earners sought more spacious living in Nairobi’s suburbs. Rental prices for detached houses in Karen and Muthaiga went up by 7.3% in 2020. The jump in rents for high-end properties showed the market’s resilience to economic slowdowns according to HassConsult.
The Q4 2020 Hass Property Index showed that apartments took up 58.8% of the property market in Kenya, semi-detached houses took up 28.8% of the market and detached houses took up 12.4% of the market at the end of December 2020.
