Juja, Ruiru and Limuru have recorded the fastest growth in land prices among Nairobi satellite towns according to the latest HassConsult property index for the third quarter of 2016.
Juja was the best performing satellite town with land in the satellite town increasing by 14.5 per cent over the quarter, followed by Limuru and Ruiru which recorded asking price increases of 12.4 per cent and 11.2 per cent respectively.
An acre of land in Juja has gone up by 43.1 per cent over the past one year to Sh10 million on average, followed by Ruiru at 42.9 per cent to Sh21.3 million and Limuru at 34.9 per cent to Sh19.4 million.
Juja and Ruiru have steady increase their asking price following the completion of Thika highway which opened up the area for investor’s. The proposed commuter rail that will link satellite towns to the CBD is also another factor.
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Limuru land prices are being driven up by the ongoing construction of the Western Bypass forcing land owner to position themselves for the anticipated demand.
“As we have seen from previous results land prices tend to increase when roads and other infrastructure projects are set for development. Land prices in Juja, Limuru and Ruiru are benefiting from the proposed Western bypass and commuter rail projects which will make the areas easily accessible,” said Ms. Sakina Hassanali, Head of Research and Marketing at HassConsult.
Presence of shopping malls such as Garden city and Thika road mall have also contributed in driving up the land prices.
Land prices in satellite towns rose by 7 per cent in the third quarter of 2016 and 21.4 per cent over the year, the last time growth rates were in the 20 per cent range was in January 2014
Ngong was the worst performing satellite town with average asking price reducing by 2.3 per cent in the third quarter and this is attributable to heavy congestion in the town.
Donholm was the best performing suburb with a 9.3 per cent increase in asking prices for the third quarter of 2016 followed by Langata whose asking prices increased by 7.7 per cent over the same time.
“The trend is duplicated in Nairobi, where the suburbs with highest land prices rises over the quarter such as Donholm and Langata is attributable to infrastructure development, namely the Outer Ring Road expansion and the completion of the Southern bypass,” said Ms. Hassanali.