Summary
- Knight Frank noted house prices were still 30 percent higher than last quarter 2010.
- However, values are still more than 30 percent higher compared to Q4 2010, validating prime residential properties as a good investment for capital gains,” it said.
- Head of Agency Anthony Havelock said the falling prices were caused by the prevailing cash crunch largely blamed on low business activity coupled with a lack of credit.
International realtor Knight Frank says Nairobi residential
properties remain an attractive buy for rich families and global
investors amid a 5.4 percent price drop in the last nine months.
In
its third-quarter report that reviewed high-end house prices in 45
cities, Knight Frank noted house prices were still 30 percent higher
than last quarter 2010.
“The values have been declining at varied rates year-on-year successively since Q3 2016.
However,
values are still more than 30 percent higher compared to Q4 2010,
validating prime residential properties as a good investment for capital
gains,” it said.
Head of Agency Anthony Havelock said
the falling prices were caused by the prevailing cash crunch largely
blamed on low business activity coupled with a lack of credit.
“We have not reached the bottom of the cycle yet and we expect
to see further reductions in the near-term until the macroeconomic and
local situations improve. One of the major issues right now is
illiquidity in the market,” he said.
Nairobi and
Mombasa remain East Africa’s most attractive destinations for global
high net worth individuals pursuing investment and leisure while
Africa’s wealthy fly in seeking a better education for their children as
well as private healthcare.
The Knight Frank report
observed the prevailing hard economic times saw banks auction distressed
residential properties at discounted prices.
Mr
Havelock said this adversely affected the prices of properties in prime
locations with oversupply fuelling further reduction of house prices as
developers made efforts to avoid the auctioneer’s hammer.
“Deals
are happening but are few and far between and at discounted rates. It
will take time for the economy to rebound considering it is also not
immune to external shocks,” he said.
Realtors have also
blamed the interest rate cap law, which stifled access to credit for
the past three years as lenders shied away from ‘risky’ borrowers.
In
its third-quarter Housing Price Index, Kenya Bankers Association named
the first nine months of 2019 as the worst year for the real estate
sector in the past five years.
No comments :
Post a Comment