On a quiet stretch of Nairobi’s Kilimani, a glossy billboard shouts out a tempting proposition: “Modern Apartments from USD 120,000.” Drive further into Karen or Westlands, and the pattern repeats. New housing developments — from sleek apartments to gated villas — are no longer priced in shillings but in dollars.
It is a curious shift in a country where salaries, mortgages, and daily transactions remain firmly anchored in Kenyan shillings. Yet over the past three years, quoting real estate in US dollars (USD) has quietly crept from being an exception to a visible trend, especially in Nairobi’s prime suburbs.
