Property Play

The real estate market has had a great run over the past five years. speculation is rife that the Kenyan real estate market is now a bubble about to go pop!

VOA speculates that Nairobi's property market benefits from piracy proceeds which easily find their way into the country given the country's absence of Anti-money laundering regulation. I must add that if indeed such proceeds are finding their way into the country then their impact on the Kenyan economy is profound and is certainly not limited to any particular sector.

The discussion on stockskenya considers varied views but the jury is still out. K24 has also recently run an investigative piece on the matter which raised more questions than anyone is able to answer at the moment.

The Bubble question becomes a notch harder to answer when one considers the changes that have been witnessed in property regulations and in the general consumer preferences. For one, the regulatory change allowing of multi-owner parcels has really changed the scene i.e possibility of actually owning the second floor in a block of flats is recent (circa 2003). That alone has had profound impact on property ownership and development.

Is it all a pure market play of willing buyers and sellers? I think there's more to it than that.

The beauty of it all, its money in the real economy. That's the way to go!