Bernard Sigei

Sale prices for semi-detached residential houses in Nairobi and the suburbs maintained their upward momentum during the first quarter of this year, with a 0.5 per cent increase, according to Hass Property price indices.

The semi-detached segment bucked the trend as all other segments recorded drops with apartment posting a 0.6 per cent, while detached house prices dropped by 1.2 per cent. Overall house prices dropped by 0.7 per cent over the quarter. 

The property developer noted that home buyers are opting for semi-detached houses as they are more spacious than apartments and more affordable than detached houses.

“Working and schooling from home has shed light on the importance of more space, leading to increased demand for homes with compounds,” said Sakina Hassanali, Head of Development Consulting and Research at HassConsult.

Most preferred

She added that the semi-detached houses are most preferred by those households whose income was affected by the pandemic. 

Houses in Langata saw the biggest rise at 4.4 per cent over the quarter while annually Muthaiga topped at 8.4 per  cent.

‘Spring Valley saw house prices drop by 1.1 per cent over the quarter while apartments in Riverside recorded a 4.7 per cent annual drop.

Ruiru houses rose by 2.7 per cent while Ngong town saw the biggest annual price increase at 8.4 percent. Juja was at the tail end at over the quarter and annually at 4.2 per cent and 10.8 per cent respectively.