Donholm, Athi River report lowest rental prices in quarter one

Upper Kabete and Donholm-Komarock areas in Nairobi as well as Syokimau, Ngong and Athi River satellite towns reported the lowest rents in the first quarter of the year.

According to Cytonn Real Estate latest findings, Athi River had the lowest per square metre rental charge in the last three months at Sh63,485 with an 88 percent occupancy rate, Syokimau Sh68,072 at 84.6 percent occupancy while Donholm and Komarock areas sold for Sh77,085 with an occupancy rate of 86.1 percent.

Upper Kabete went for Sh87,668 and had a 91.2 per cent occupancy rate, thanks to proximity to Nairobi while Ngong town, which now enjoys good access due to newly built roads reported a 72 per cent occupancy that went for an average Sh96,104 per square metre.

“Apartments were popular among the middle class with developers utilising small spaces to build high-rise rental properties,’’ said Wacu Mbugua, a research analyst at Cytonn.

Cytonn said Ngong enjoyed a two per cent rise in rental prices due to increased interest among tenants looking for quality properties renting at friendly rates.

Cytonn said as the coronavirus scourge impact sinks in, the real estate sector would witness a downturn as house-seekers suffering from lost or lower incomes continue pursuing rent bargains across the market.

In its first-quarter market review, Cytonn found that Juja enjoyed the lowest leasing rate per month for detached units at Sh67,651 enjoying 90.1 per cent occupancy, Ngong township sold for Sh75,980 while enjoying an 88.3 per cent occupancy compared to Ruiru’s Sh85,686 charge per square metre, which returned the highest yield at 5.6 percent.

Lang’ata reported the highest return at 6.8 percent with a 94.5 per cent occupancy with rental spaces charged at Sh105,466 per square metre, Kilimani Sh115,985 per square metre with a 94.5 percent occupancy with a 6.7 percent return.

South C in Nairobi remained popular for detached units and apartments bringing in attractive returns to developers where a square metre sold for Sh120,566 attracting a 94.9 percent occupancy rate while apartments charged Sh108,306 per square metre reporting a 97.7 per cent occupancy rate.