In the town, a 100ft by 50ft piece of land right now is going for not less than Sh10 million, which translates to about Sh80 million an acre.
The space is diminishing and cannot sustain the number of investors coming into town as the town opens up.
The Isiolo-Moyale highway just got completed, opening up the transport system into and out of the town, making it one of the major hubs in the northern frontier counties.
Getting land in Marsabit Town and its outskirts could be a challenge in the coming years.
Given that there is less space left for sale within the town, land owners are taking advantage of investors seeking to buy land and develop.
In the town, a 100ft by 50ft piece of land right now is going for not less than Sh10 million, which translates to about Sh80 million an acre.
However, the space is diminishing and cannot sustain the number of investors coming into town as the town opens up.
The Isiolo-Moyale highway just got completed, opening up the transport system into and out of the town, making it one of the major hubs in the northern frontier counties.
Three years ago, the road was yet to be completed and fewer people were interested in investing in the region.
A 100ft by 50ft plot then cost less than Sh4 million shillings.
A land broker, Adam Koje, said the region's land prices have risen very fast.
He points out that there are wealthy people who have no land and wish to acquire some, yet there is hardly any available for them to buy.
On standby
“Investors are on the standby waiting for land owners to announce sales. They then compete to outdo each other on who becomes the highest bidder to win the seller’s attention,” said Mr Koje.
The county's director of survey, Abdullahi Hassan, said the county has no land valuers, though the county cannot even control land prices.
“Nobody can tell another how much to sell their land. They are the valuers of their land and the buyers still go for it no matter how high it goes,” said Mr Hassan.
Mr Hassan echoed the words of Mr Koje, noting that the region is on a growing trend and expanding tremendously.
He said the rate at which locals are seeking land ownership documents is increasing day by day.
“In the past, people never bothered to get title deeds because land was no big deal. However, today people have seen how valuable land is and with the rate at which the town is expanding, they feel threatened,” said Mr Hassan.
The region has not yet had any real estate and property private investors or companies that can help shape investments and control of property.
Only brokers bridge the gap between buyers and sellers of land in the area.
This could be one of the reasons why prices seem limitless because brokers need to make profits from land buying and selling while fulfilling the desires of their customers on either side.
Unwilling to sell
On the other hand, local land owners are unwilling to sell land to foreign investors.
According to an area investor, local land owners can only release land to their fellow tribesmen but cannot sell land to people from other regions.
The fear of other communities taking over the town makes residents hike prices just to hold on to their land.
Besides, the region being a pastoralist area, this could be another reason why the locals tend to hold on tight to their lands.
Nonetheless, three kilometres away from the town, the rates are a little lower, depending on the location and how flat the area is.
Marsabit Town is located among hills inside the Marsabit Forest. Thus, most of the regions surrounding it are in the forest and no settlements are allowed while the remaining area is hilly and rocky.
For this reason, those selling land along the hilly regions trade an acre for not more than Sh1 million while those outside the CBD and on level ground trade for more than Sh 2.5 million.
“Back in 2012, land in such regions traded for only Sh150,000 to Sh200,000. Nobody had no big issues with letting go land unlike today where investors from other counties are flocking the region,” said Mr Koje.
The Marsabit County revenue department, however, said they have not increased rates, noting that in the past, the people had not registered their land.
No list
There is no list of who owned what land before the onset of devolution in 2013.
This is unlike today when everyone is in a rush to secure their land as the town expands.
Around the county government headquarters, which sits three kilometres as one enters the town centre, land has diminished as investors were quick to grab the space.
Those who bought land then, have the advantage and selling it out now and could get up to to 200 per cent in profit margins.
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