Kenya’s property market saw an overall sales price increase of 8.2% annually, driven primarily by pockets of high demand for detached houses, according to the latest HassConsult House Price Index for Quarter Three (Q3) 2025.
This annual growth occurred despite a comparatively subdued quarter, which saw property prices inch up by just 1.1% in Q3, reflecting a traditional mid-year sales lull.
The overall sales market retained a “solid foundation in cash-driven demand,” though middle-class incomes continue to face pressure, noted Sakina Hassanali, Co-CEO and Creative Director at HassConsult.
Detached houses were the undisputed segment winner, with prices up 11.3% on the year, continuing a surge that began in late 2023. This growth was highly localized:
- Suburban Hotspots: Prices saw significant annual rises in suburbs like Runda (+15.3%), Muthaiga (+13.9%), and Ridgeways (+12.9%). Runda saw the highest quarterly price rise in the detached segment at 4.0%.
- Satellite Town Acceleration: The surge slowed down in most areas but accelerated notably in better-value satellite towns. Athi River saw its quarterly rise accelerate to 4.3%, contributing to a 4.9% annual rise.
- Apartments & Semi-Detached: Price growth in these segments was stable but significantly lower. Apartments were up 1.5% annually, with a Q3 high in Langata (+4.4%), while semi-detached houses rose 2.9% on the year.
The rental market showed a stark contrast to sales, recording an overall decline of 1.3% annually and 1.6% in Q3. This was overwhelmingly driven by changes in the high-end detached house rental market:
- Muthaiga Meltdown: The sharpest fall was recorded in Muthaiga, where rents dropped 8.1% annually, primarily due to expatriate departures linked to the ending of large aid flows into the country.
- Location-Specific Demand: Despite the overall slump in detached house rents (-4.3% annually), rental demand is now highly localized.
- Rents Rose sharply in areas like Parklands (+12.5% annually) and Riverside (+5.4% annually) for apartments, often fueled by newer, higher-value rental stock coming to market.
- Rents Fell in Upper Hill (Apartments: -2.7% annually) and Westlands (Apartments: -4.6% annually).
- Satellite Town Rent Spikes: The highest annual rental increase was recorded for houses in Kiambu Town (+17.1%).
Historically, expatriate exits have led to both rental and sales prices falling as landlords look to offload properties. However, this period shows a crucial divergence:
The current scale of local demand for detached houses is so strong that it has continued to drive up sales prices, even as the rental market for the same properties softens due to reduced expatriate tenant numbers. This suggests robust cash-driven local residential demand is buffering the high-end sales market from rental market pressures.