Real estate market posts improvement in first half 2018
Absorption of Grade A and B office space in Nairobi rose by 12% in the first half of the year compared to the second half of 2017, according to Knight Frank’s Kenya Market Update – 1st Half 2018.
Increased uptake of office space followed the improved political climate and economic recovery in the period, with the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) having expanded by 5.7% in the first quarter. A decline in prime asking rents for offices to US$1.3 per square foot per month, from US$1.4/sqft/m in the latter half of 2017, also boosted uptake.
The Kenya Market Update report showed prime residential prices increased marginally by 0.4% in the period compared to a 1.8% decrease in the second half of 2017, while prime residential rents rose by 0.33%.
“The increase in prime residential prices and rents is attributed to an improved political climate and the thawing of the wait-and-see attitude among buyers and occupiers,” the report notes.
In retail, prime rents remained flat at US$55/sqm/month, with footfall in major shopping malls having increased slightly in the review period as expanding retailers took up anchor tenant spaces vacated by ailing rivals. Occupancy levels remained high for established malls at 90% and between 60-75% for new retail centres.
Over the last 20 years, in Nairobi, office rents in the Westlands commercial district have grown the fastest, having climbed by nearly two and a half times the 1998 levels, according to data compiled by Knight Frank Kenya.
Office rents in Westlands stood at about Sh35/sqft/m in 1998, and currently average Sh120/sqft/m, a 242% increase. In comparison, average office rents in Upper Hill have increased by 175% over the two decades, from Sh40/sqft/m in 1998 to Sh110/sqft/m in 2018.
Land values have increased most significantly in Karen, from an average of Sh2 million per acre in 1998 to Sh65 million currently, a more than 30-fold growth. Comparably, Upper Hill land prices averaged Sh20 million an acre 20 years ago and have risen to about Sh600 million per acre today.
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