Paul Arithi 
- Land price growth slows in self-building areas, as developers drive mixed-use suburbs;
The Land price slowdown in Nairobi’s satellite town continued in the third quarter of 2025, as self-building moderated, on economic pressures.
- Land price in 14 satellite towns around Nairobi increased by just 0.84 percent in the quarter, rising by 6.6 percent in the year to September.
- The average price per acre remained much lower in the satellite towns, at an average of KES 32.3M, compared with KES 223.9M in the 18 Nairobi suburbs.
- But with self-building declining, the focus of developers on Nairobi suburbs maintained stronger suburban land price growth than satellite town land price growth.
- Nairobi suburb prices, nonetheless, slowed down to 1.22 percent growth in the third quarter and 6.27 percent in the last year.
- The strongest growth in Nairobi was in Spring Valley, up 3.6 percent in the quarter, and 13.3 percent in the year, as the area transits from large stand-alone houses to apartments and commercial use.
The slowdown in Nairobi’s satellite-town land prices continued in the third quarter of 2025, as self-building moderated, on economic pressures, HassConsult reported today, unveiling the Hass Index land price index results for July to September.
The three months saw land prices in 14 satellite towns around Nairobi increase by just 0.84 percent, reducing the price growth for the year to September to 6.6 percent.
“Many of these satellite areas, such as Kiserian, Kitengela, and Athi River, have been prime locations for middle class buyers to develop their own family homes in stages and as incomes allowed,” said Sakina Hassanali, Co-CEO and Creative Director at Hass Consult.
“But tightening finances are reducing the flow of buyers able to get through the initial entry gate for self-building of a land purchase, despite the far lower and more advantageous prices in the satellite areas.”
The average price for an acre in the satellite towns in the third quarter of 2025 was Sh32.3m, compared with Sh223.9m in the 18 Nairobi suburbs monitored by the Hass Index.
Within this average, areas such as Kiserian and Kitengela continue to offer the lowest-price access point, at an average of Sh13.4m and Sh18.8m per acre.
However, this self-builder advantage is seeing the fallback in self-builder buying, slowing their price growth rapidly.
“Only areas with strong developer demand are now reporting strong land price growth,” said Sakina Hassanali.
Within Nairobi, land prices across the 18 suburbs also slowed down, but more slowly than in the satellite towns, rising by 1.22 percent in the third quarter and by 6.27 percent in the last year, supported by strong development areas.
Of these, Spring Valley continued to lead, heating up further as developers chased large single-home plots to develop into multi-use properties in line with the rapidly changing character of the area, from exclusively top-of-the-market large homes and gardens to a mixed-use area, with commercial properties and apartments.
This delivered a further increase in land prices in the suburb of 3.6 percent from June to September and 13.3 percent over the year.
By contrast, Nairobi suburbs, with limited appeal for commercial and multi-occupation, due to the scarcity of public transport routes and planning restrictions, such as Muthaiga, saw land prices fall by 0.2 percent from June to September, tipping the annual change into a 0.1 percent decline.
Detached house hotspots drive annual price rises to 8.2% despite subdued Q3
Despite the traditional August lull, overall property prices rose by a subdued 1.1% in the quarter, taking the annual rise
to 8.2 percent.
· The main drivers were spots of high demand for detached houses. For example, in Runda, where house prices rose 4 percent in 12 weeks, up 15.3 percent on the year, and in Athi River, where the rise accelerated to 4.3 percent in the third quarter, achieving 4.9 percent for the year.
Rental prices fell by 1.6% in Q3, and 1.3% for the year, driven downwards by sharp decline in Muthaiga rents due to expatriate departure on aid closures.
· Underlying rental changes reflected high location-specific patterns, with rental demand rising sharply in areas such as Parklands and Riverside, while falling in Westlands and Upper Hill.
Property price rises in Kenya were more subdued in the third quarter of 2025 than in the previous quarter, reflecting the traditional lull in August sales, but still rose by 1.1 per cent from June 2025 levels, taking the full-year rise to 8.2 per cent.
The overall growth was driven by scattered spots of demand for detached houses, driving overall detached house prices up by 11.3 per cent in the year to September 2025.
“All segments of the market delivered sales price growth in the third quarter, reflecting the market’s solid foundation
in cash-driven demand, but it was a subdued quarter of demand, overall, as middle class incomes remained under
pressure,” said Sakina Hassanali, Co-CEO and Creative Director at HassConsult.
The surge in detached house buying was area specific, with prices continuing to rise significantly in the Runda,
Ridgeways, Loresho, Lavington, Karen, and Muthaiga suburbs, and the Athi River, Ruiru, Tigoni, Juja, and Kiserian satellite towns, but falling in other areas in and around the city.
But, overall, the surge in house demand, which began in late 2023, slowed down in most areas, accelerating only in Athi River, Ruiru and Tigoni – suggesting a move to better-value properties and some exhaustion of the demand in many other areas.
Rental prices, which fell by 1.6 per cent in Q3, compared to Q2, and 1.3 per cent over the year, are also being driven by changes in the detached house market, where the ending of large aid flows into the country have prompted expatriate departures that have reduced demand for rented detached houses.
However, where in previous periods of expatriate exit – from 2012, and during Covid – rising vacancies led to falling rental and sales prices as landlords exited by selling, this time, the scale of local demand for detached houses has continued to drive up sales prices, even as rentals fall.
For apartments, variable price growth driven by new stock coming to market delivered overall price stability.Rents rose most quickly in areas such as Parklands and Riverside, with Parklands rents up by 12.5 per cent in the last one year, as newer rentals have driven up the average, while rents and apartment prices in Upper Hill have dipped based on older stock.
