Ngong tops in Nairobi land price increases

The price of land in Ngong has increased by nearly a fifth in the past year as a new generation of landowners continues to subdivide inherited property into plots for sale.

Better accessibility due to the ongoing reconstruction of Ngong Road and the completion of the Southern Bypass have also helped push up land prices in the area, which is also benefiting from the tarmacking of the Ngong-Suswa Road and increased trade along the corridor.

Analysis of land prices in Nairobi’s satellite towns by realtors HassConsult shows that an acre in Ngong is now selling at an average of Sh25.4 million, an 18 percent increase compared to the average price of Sh21.5 million a year ago.

Ngong has therefore bucked the trend in land prices in satellite towns where the average one-year increase is 2.3 percent.

Real estate has in the past few years been hit by a lack of credit, lack of affordability after years of booming prices, and more recently the Covid-19 pandemic that has greatly reduced spending power among prospective buyers.

“Land in Ngong was traditionally held by an old generation who owned large chunks of more than five acres with an aim of maintaining their wealth. However, we are seeing an end to this era as a new generation—their heirs—are keener on cashing in on this land by selling parcels,” said Sakina Hassanali, the HassConsult head of development consulting and research.

“This new generation has led to an increase in the supply of subdivisions of eighth and quarter-acre parcels for sale, thus making it possible for other Kenyans to own land in Ngong.”

Ongata Rongai and Kiserian, which like Ngong have also seen a rise in land subdivision in recent years, also recorded big land price increases of 11.8 percent and 9.3 percent respectively in the past year to an average of Sh24.8 million and Sh8.3 million per acre.

The ongoing construction of the Nairobi Expressway, which is set to be opened by February next year, is also starting to have a ripple effect on land prices in satellite towns to the east of Nairobi, whose residents are expected to benefit from the reduced travel time the road will offer.

Mlolongo, the starting point of the eastern end of the expressway, recorded a double-figure increase of 11.1 percent in the 12-month period, with an acre now selling at an average of Sh30.8 million.

Athi River’s average price went up by nine percent to Sh14.8 million.

The huge price increases in towns like Ngong and Ongata Rongai are following the trend seen a few years ago in Kiambu where people subdivided and sold off land under coffee plantations after years of poor performance of the cash crop.

“The trend in Ngong is tracking that in Kiambu County which has experienced booms over the last decade due to a combination of infrastructure development, and subdivision sales which have made them attractive for speculation purchases,” said Ms Hassanali.

This has been especially pronounced in Ruaka area, where the price of an acre of land is now averaging Sh89.8 million, rivalling that of upmarket Nairobi suburbs such as Kitisuru (Sh90.7 million), Ridgeways (Sh74.9 million), and Runda (Sh89.3 million).

Price movement in Nairobi’s suburbs has, however, been more muted at an annualised average of just 0.3 percent by June compared to the satellite towns, owing to lower availability of land and the already sky-high asking prices that are only affordable to the moneyed few.

The fast-developing commercial hubs of Upperhill and Westlands continue to command the highest land prices in the city at an average of Sh507 million and Sh426.3 million per acre respectively, with annualised growths of -3.5 percent and 1.8 percent as of June.

They are followed by Kilimani and Parklands at Sh415 million and Sh379.8 million per acre respectively, with the two areas increasingly seeing conversions of land holding single dweller units into apartments and commercial buildings.