Most property search journeys begin on a real estate listing website. As they advertise properties from hundreds of real estate companies, their range far exceeds what any one real estate agency can offer. Plus, you can search property online from the convenience of your own home.
Kenya’s best real estate websites: An in-depth comparison
In-depth reviews of the 5 top real estate websites in Kenya in order of overall score.
Choosing to pay rent or not should be based on your needs [stockphoto]
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But not all property portals are created equal. It’s a challenging business, especially in the current economy. Many international players have not understood the ins and outs of Kenyan real estate market and have shut down their websites including Jumia House.
We’ve analysed the online offerings to find the best property websites based on:
- Estimated monthly visits: Based on the total visit data from Similarweb
- Range: The number of property listings
- Ease of use: How easy is it to use the website
- Safety: Are the listings legit and are the agents verified
- Market information: Do they offer helpful market information and property advice
- Listing cost: Are the ads on the site free or paid
- Headquarter location: Are they local or based outside Kenya
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Here’s the in-depth reviews of the 5 top real estate websites in Kenya in order of overall score.
1. BuyRentKenya
Estimated monthly visits: 211,500
Range: Approximately 16,000 listings
Listing cost: Undisclosed pricing
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Ease of use: 5/5
Safety: 5/5
Market information: 4/5
Headquarter location: Kenya
Many notable real estate industry bodies agree, BuyRentKenya is the best property website. BuyRentKenya has a slew of prestigious awards, most recently winning Property Marketplace of the Year at the Kenya E-commerce Awards in both 2022 and 2023.
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The range of properties, aggregated from real estate agencies, private sellers and landlords
is the only fourth highest in the market. However, due to the fact that they verify real estate agents, the Kenyan team reviews every listing before it is put online, there is a report listing feature and people have paid money to have those properties on the website, you can have confidence that the ads are up to date and legitimate. This earns BuyRentKenya the highest safety score.
On BuyRentKenya you can easily compare property prices with similar features thanks to the in-depth filters and navigate around easily with quick links that update depending on the page.
Plus, you can request a property based on your preference for buying or renting. Upon receiving your request, the website promptly notifies local agents about your interest. These agents will then share property details with you.
In terms of market information, BuyRentKenya regularly publishes market reports to give transparency and support smarter property investments. They also highlight regional averages, which helps to prevent sellers from overpricing properties. And have a whole section of the website dedicated to real estate advice.
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2. Jiji.co.ke
Kenya’s best real estate websites: An in-depth comparison
Kenya’s best real estate websites: An in-depth comparison
Pulse Live Kenya
Range: Approximately 47,000 listings
Listing cost: Free
Ease of use (for real estate category): 3/5
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Safety (for real estate category): 3/5
Market information: 1/5
Headquarter location: Kenya
Jiji is a big Kenyan marketplace, so real estate is just a section. But due to their free to list model, they attract a lot of people who sell or rent property as a side hustle which leads to a large selection of listings.
Unfortunately, they don’t have a seller verification program. On the other hand, they do allow users to report abuse, mark listings as unavailable and give feedback, so people can report if a listing is fake.
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Subcategories like bedsitters can be a little hard to get to as they are not included in the left hand navigation, but the website offers quite expansive filters for a platform not dedicated to property.
But being a large marketplace, Jiji.co.ke can’t offer dedicated real estate market information to guide you along your property journey or support with services like connecting you to a trusted mortgage broker.
3. Property24.co.ke
Kenya’s best real estate websites: An in-depth comparison
Kenya’s best real estate websites: An in-depth comparison
Pulse Live Kenya
Estimated monthly visits: 169,400
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Range: Approximately 326,000 listings
Listing cost: Free
Ease of use: 4/5
Safety: 1/5
Market information: 3/5
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Headquarter location: South Africa
On the surface, it looks like Property24.co.ke has the best range. You might think it’s because of their free to list model, but the scoop is that they don’t moderdate their listings as they run the website from outside of Kenya.
This explains why there is no contact address, why their about us page is missing content, why there is no way to report a listing, why there is no agent verification program. This leads to lots of outdated content or worse scams, so Property24.co.ke has the lowest safety score.
That being said, the lack of banner ads is a refreshing change and there are useful filtering options. This makes the platform a great place to get a feel for market prices. But if you find a property you like, look for it on another real estate classified with a higher safety score to contact the real estate agent.
4. PigiaMe
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Kenya’s best real estate websites: An in-depth comparison
Kenya’s best real estate websites: An in-depth comparison
Pulse Live Kenya
Estimated monthly visits: 140,700
Range: Approximately 18,645 listings
Listing cost: Free
Ease of use (for real estate category): 3/5
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Safety (for real estate category): 4/5
Market information: 1/5
Headquarter location: Kenya
PigiaMe is a classified website in which real estate is a category. But due to their free to list model, they attract for sale by owner and landlords listings. This gives you a good chance to find affordable housing while still keeping you safe as they offer a verified seller program and ‘report this ad’ functionality.
The downside is, there aren’t as many detailed filters as on dedicated property listing websites, which can be a challenge if you have specific needs beyond location and price. They also don’t publish real estate market information.
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5. Kenyapropertycentre.com
Kenya’s best real estate websites: An in-depth comparison
Kenya’s best real estate websites: An in-depth comparison
Pulse Live Kenya
Estimated monthly visits: 63,900
Range: Approximately 5,000 listings
Listing cost: Free
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Ease of use: 3/5
Safety: 3/5
Market information: 2/5
Headquarter location: South Africa
The range of properties on Kenyapropertycentre.com is less than a third of BuyRentKenya. And while it is more trustworthy than Property24.co.ke due to an agent verification program and report a listing functionality, the fact that the company operates out of South Africa with no staff in Kenya reduced the overall safety factor.
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The site does offer a wide range of filtering options to drill down to what you are looking for but it is hidden below a large ad and a wall of filters. This blocks property seekers from seeing any actual listings until they scroll. This costs them points on ease of use.
In terms of market information, Kenyapropertycentre.com offers demand trends and average property prices based on listings from their portal. The concept has a lot of potential but can not be taken at face value. For as we have seen the data is at best representative of a third of the properties in Kenya, due to their limited range of listings.
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