@mwanahisa. good analysis. why don't you do some sort of survey. Maybe ask the guys on wazua to give you rents and prices for the areas where they live. It would give you a wealth of information. But I love the initiative Hass has taken. I wish many more developers would collaborate with them.

As muganda said if you can calculate returns or rental yields you can see things really changing, more transparency, identify the bubbles. Would a fund manager or insurance firms be interested in such info, I think they would. Everyday Kenyan's savings are heading away from financial assets into these kind of assets, real estate, but you're right the info has to be more comprehensive.

The summary title is the clincher - "Property market rides despite developers' oversupply of large apartments."

Oversupply of large apartments in the leafy suburbs while a scarcity in the low class areas. I wish there was a way of knowing which banks have backed the loans for these oversupplied large apartments. Doesn't this present a compelling case for a default scenario on these property without occupancy or buyers?

It is a good effort by Hass Consult. And who is to begrudge them for milking it for all its worth. The publicity they get is worth tons of marketing exposure.

The folks at the Kenya Bureau of Statistics should take this up. I believe they have the mandate if not the resources.

@All, is there an index that measures actual rent paid as opposed to what is advertised?

@Sasha and also Mwanahisa - you both think the figures for Buru Buru and South C are unjustifiably lower than Kitengela (or Thika). If these are average figures, from an SQ/bedsitter to a maisonnet (or even a grand mansion like we sometimes see in Thika or Kitengela), then I would agree. Areas like Thika town and Kitengela are mainly (not exclusively) for the driving working class who mostly commute to Nairobi - these areas are not littered with bedsitters/SQs for rent and typically sit on more than an eighth an acre vis a vis the smaller plots in Buru and South B which, owing to landlords building extensions and letting out, house small dwellings whose rent brings down the average. I agree Kitengela and Thika also have small houses but not as many bedsitters/SQs being leased.

If you take a typical 4 bedroom in South C - attracting rent of 40-45k (or Buru at 35-40k) - then add it to an SQ/Bedsitter attracting 5-8k, then we see the math getting distorted. Then look at the density (the number to derive the average) and it gets even worse.

So, in Kitengela/Thika, there are fewer dwellings per square kilometre. And lets remember Kitengela and Thika are whole towns whereas South C and Buru Buru are estates.