Wealthy Kenyans look beyond the borders for luxury holiday homes

Interior and exterior views of some of the properties built by Dubai’s largest private developer, DAMAC Properties. It is among foreign property dealers scouting for wealthy Kenyan buyers. Photo/Courtesy DAMAC Properties 

By EVELYNE SITUMA
 

 

In Summary

• Kenya happens to be one of those new markets international dealers have identified for their property, since most of these markets (Europe, Middle East and America) have yet to emerge from the global financial crisis of 2008.

It is the new game in town. Kenyans with deep pockets are investing millions of shillings in real estate outside the country, opening a new front in the competition for property ownership that has kept the housing market growing steadily in the past seven years.

Transnational property dealers are riding on rising spending power of Kenya’s expanding middle class to open alternative channels of investment abroad promising the buyers good returns from ownership of exclusive holiday homes and the status that comes with it.

The apartment is the most popular item on the buying list but millions of shillings have also been invested in mansions, maisonettes and villas in some of the world’s top cities such as London, Dubai, Mumbai, Durban and Cape Town.

The buyers are mainly deep pocketed Kenyans seeking overseas holiday homes or international real estate investments with high returns.

“Most of these markets (Europe, Middle East and America) have yet to emerge from the global financial crisis of 2008, forcing dealers to explore new markets for their property"

"Kenya happens to be one of those markets that international dealers have identified,” said Reginald Okumu, a director at Ark Consultants Limited, a valuation and property management company.

Mr Okumu says owning a holiday or second home abroad where one can retire or spend time with family and friends is fast gaining currency among Kenya’s affluent, making it an attractive target for international vendors.

Locally, this love for second homes has seen developers come up with the concept of more holiday homes located in exclusive locations outside the main cities.

India-based dealer Emgee Group is the latest entrant into Kenya’s offshore real estate market – seeking investors in luxury apartments at the heart of the beach city of Dona Paula.

Set on 11 acres with a clear view of India’s Arabian sea, the apartments and Villa termed as The Address of Goa are breath-taking.

A two-bedroom apartment is priced at Sh27 million and promises the buyers luxury comfort in a tourist resort city located in the western Indian state of Goa, that attracts more than a million visitors annually.

This makes it an ideal destination for investors looking to earn rental income from the tourism industry and to use the same for own holidays.

Emgee joins companies such as Dubai based Emaar Properties, British firm Seer Acquisitions and South African firm Sanlam via its property fund- Sanlam Africa Core Real Estate Fund- that have published advertisements in the local press inviting Kenyans to buy property in places such as Dubai, India, London and Durban.

Local advertising

“You can see why dealers are testing the local market. Kenya is gaining a lot of publicity internationally as a country that is growing fast, and whenever people hear of growth, they come for a piece of the action."