Every year, various estates within Nairobi and its neighbouring 14 satellite towns witness significant price growth occasioned by growing demand.
Notably, as witnessed in recent years, the focus is slowly shifting to satellite towns as city dwellers seek to buy land in towns that offer cheaper prices.
Thika
As of September 30, Thika had become one of the top hotspots for land buyers seeking to build in satellite towns.
Hassconsult, a real estate firm, attributed the demand witnessed in Thika to the government’s plan to make the town a city.
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“In Thika, the Kiambu County government's recent announcement of a new masterplan to transform the town into an industrial smart-city has seen developers race to take up land in anticipation of a potential jump in demand for housing and commercial outlets in the area,” read the statement in part.
“The county plan envisages additional roads that will open up the outlying areas of Thika for commercial development, creating new jobs that will attract demand for residential units.”
The average price of an acre was Ksh28.6 million at the end of September.
Limuru
Among the 14 satellite towns, Limuru was also a top destination for land buyers.
The demand in Limuru was occasioned by affordability and the high returns for land investors.
“Satellite towns are driving the revival of land as a competitive asset class with an average annual growth of over 10 percent,” read the Q1 report.
“Developers have also shown a preference for areas whose prices are lower than the satellite town average of KES 28.8 million, as they keep an eye on overall costs due to higher building input prices.”
Currently, an acre of land averages Ksh23.9 million.
Mlolongo
Another satellite town that attracted Kenyans seeking land was Mlolongo.
Hassconsult explained that the increase in demand for land in the area was occasioned by the infrastructural development near the area. This included the Nairobi Expressway.
Such infrastructural projects not only made the town accessible but also increased the land value.
For instance, the average price of an acre in January was Ksh39.9 million. By the end of September 2024, the same size was averaging Ksh43.2 million.
“Mlolongo continued to enjoy the benefit of easier access to the city via the Nairobi Expressway, with the area mix of residential and land industrial developments helping sustain demand for land,” HassConsult explained in its September report.
Langata
Among the Nairobi suburbs, Langata recorded significant demand throughout the year.
This is also witnessed in the 8.4 percent annual growth for land prices.
As detailed by the real estate company, the demand in Lang’ata was occasioned by the affordability of land in comparison with other suburbs such as Lavington and Muthaiga among others.
As of September 31, an acre of land was retailing at Ksh85.5 million.
“The leading suburbs in quarterly land price growth have emerged as the city's hotspots for apartment and mixed-use developments, hence the demand-driven price increase,” Sakina Hassanali, Head of Development Consulting and Research at HassConsult reported.
Upper Hill
According to the real estate company, an acre of land in Upper Hill was the most expensive in Nairobi and the satellite towns.
At the end of September, an acre of land was priced at Ksh506 million. However, despite the high price, there was a high demand for land in the area.
This was occasioned by the increased uptake of office spaces within the area.
“The resurgence of land price in Upperhill, which posted its fastest quarterly gain since the fourth quarter of 2014 underpins the uptake of remaining current grade A office space formerly oversupplied, as well as Upper Hill’s recent positioning for successful residential real estate,” read the report in part.
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