Land Prices In Kiambu County Are Coming Down: What Should Investors Expect?

Land in Kiambu County witnessed extensive price drops over 2020 as Kiambu Town, Ruiru and Limuru witnessed the biggest annual drops of 11.4, 6, and 3 percent respectively after years of speculative land buying activity backed by massive infrastructure upgrades.

”Kiambu County has in the last decade seen the most intense development in infrastructure… attracting institutional investors such as insurance companies, SACCOs and real estate developers who bought large parcels of land,” said Ms. Sakina Hassanali, Head of Development Consulting and Research at HassConsult.

According to HassConsult, Tigoni was the only recorded suburb in Kiambu county that registered a 1.9 percent land price increase, on account of very recent infrastructure upgrades and stringent land-use laws in the area.

“Land prices in the county are moving towards a maximum of what the development market can bear until we see a hike economic activity and therefore some space for property prices to rise further,” Ms. Sakina added.

Within the capital city, Land prices in Nairobi’s suburbs recorded a lackluster performance registering a static 0.002 percent increase between October and December of 2020 which was a reversal of 11 consecutive months of price drops.

Over 2020, land prices in Nairobi fell 2.56 percent compared to a 1.69 percent rise in 2019. The highest annual price falls in land value was experienced in Parklands at 7.35 percent over 2020 followed by Riverside at 7.2 percent both apartment-dominated suburbs.

HassConsult today unveiled the Hass Land price indices for the fourth quarter and 12 months to December 2020, showing a sluggish uptick in land prices in Nairobi’s satellite towns over the quarter at 0.35 percent while registering a fall of 1.1 percent over the year ended 2020, a stark contrast to the 6.93 percent rise witnessed in 2019.

Land in Donholm took up 0.5 percent of the market, Gigiri 0.4%, Karen 29.8%, Kileleshwa 3.8%, Kilimani 7.4%, Kitisuru 3.9%, Langata 3.9%, Lavington 11.5%, Loresho 2.0%, Muthaiga 1.8%, Nyari 1.9%, Parklands 3.1%, Ridgeways 2.4%, Riverside 1.5%, Runda 13.4%, Spring Valley 1.7%, Upperhill 3.2% and Westlands 7.9% respectively.