Properties in Nairobi’s Westlands area remained attractive in the first quarter of 2024 with rental prices in the district increasing 5.8 per cent during the period under review.
- •Convenience and accessibility make property in Westlands more appealing to tenants, according to Hass Consult Property Index for Q1 2024.
- •The Hass Property price index for Q1 2024 shows a 2.7 percent growth in asking prices across all property despite high interest rates that have raised financing costs for developers and buyers.
- •Although the growth was slower than the 4.1 percent reported in Q4 2023, a positive trajectory indicates the property market retained its resilience, even as banks raised their loan rates above 20 percent after CBK increased its base lending rate.
“Tenants in the rental market considered other factors such as accessibility and convenience when choosing where to let. For this reason, Westlands, which is served by a good road network and has emerged as the most attractive business district in the city, reported a 5.8 percent increase in asking rent, outperforming all other suburbs,” noted Sakina Hassanali, Head of Development, Consulting and Research at Hass Consult.
In the Nairobi Suburb Property Index, apart from Muthaiga and Ridgeways which recorded negative 2.4 per cent and negative 1.3 per cent rental price decline respectively, all other suburbs saw an increase in rental price in the first quarter 2024.
Loresho, Nyari Estate, Kilimani, Runda, Gigiri, Karen, Kileleshwa, Langata, Kitusuru, Lavington and Spring Valley recorded rent increase of 3.2 per cent, 3.0 per cent, 2.7 per cent, 2.6 per cent, 2.4 per cent, 1.9 per cent, 1.8 per cent, 1.2 per cent, 1.0 per cent, 0.7 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively.
Ridgeways and Loresho led suburbs in quarterly price expansion at 2.9 percent and 2.7 percent respectively, while in satellite towns, the top performing areas were Juja at 3.4 percent, Ngong at 2.7 percent and Limuru at 2.2 percent.
“The rise in asking prices moderated in the first quarter of the year as credit conditions tightened following the increase in the CBK’s base lending rate to 13 percent, which has had the effect of sweeping liquidity from the market,” said Hassanali.
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