Juja, Ruiru offer best property returns for investors after double-digit price jump

HassConsult Co-Chief Executive Sakina Hassanali. [File, Standard]

Buying a piece of land in Juja or Ruiru in Kiambu County could be the most profitable real estate venture for an investor, going by the double-digit price appreciation as recorded in the latest HassConsult index.

Compared to other areas, the Hass Property Index for both land and houses show these satellite areas gave a double-digit return of between 10 and 14 per cent.

The same double-digit return has also been recorded for rental yields in the latest index that covers the last quarter of 2025.

Rental yields for all houses in the satellite towns of Nairobi show Ruiru leads with 15.6 per cent annual change in the year, followed by Kiambu 14.4 per cent, Ongata Rongai  12.5 per cent and Limuru 10.3 per cent.

Further extrapolated to just apartments, the highest price change was witnessed in Athi River, where rental prices improved by 11.8 per cent. Syokimau followed at 10 per cent; these two being the only towns with a double-digit increase.

When it comes to sale prices, Juja holds the fort with 12.2 per cent, followed by Ruiru with 10.9 per cent. These are the only two towns that recorded a double-digit annual change in house prices.

For apartment sale prices, Syokimau is the only town with a double-digit growth of 10.01 per cent.

The HassConsult Real Estate Ltd report notes that Nairobi’s satellite towns delivered a stronger performance with property sales prices rising by 4.5 per cent in the fourth quarter, while that of rentals went up by 8.7 per cent.

“Annual house price growth was strong in all satellites, led by Juja at 12.2 per cent,” the real estate firm says.

“This growth slowed in Quarter four but remained strong, except in Kiambu, Ngong and Kiserian, where prices fell in the final months of the year.”

It adds that house price strength was supported by rapid rises in satellite town house rental prices, led by Ruiru, where rents rose by 15.6 per cent in 2025 before stabilising in the final quarter.

“The performance of apartments in the city's satellite towns was more subdued. Apartment prices surged by 10.1 per cent in 2025 in Syokimau, rising 2.2 per cent in Q4,” the index says.

“But performance elsewhere was much more mixed, with the biggest decline for the year in Kiambu at 4.4 per cent. Apartment rental prices rose significantly across all satellites.”

Ruiru and Juja also recorded a double-digit growth in annual land prices among satellite towns, with an acre of plot in Ruiru going for Sh39.4 million and Sh26.3 million in Juja.

Land prices in Juja grew 13.6 per cent in 2025, as Ruiru grew by 10.7 per cent. Kiserian and Limuru also saw a double-digit growth in prices, which improved by 12.4 per cent and 12.1 per cent, respectively.

This increase now has an acre going for Sh13.5 million in Kiserian and Sh27.6 million in Limuru. Of the satellite towns listed, only Kiambu recorded a drop in annual price change of 1.5 per cent. An acre now goes for Sh48.8 million.

“In the satellite towns, the final quarter saw a levelling out of growth with hotspots slowing and the worst performers picking up,” the index reads.

It adds that growth was more subdued in the fourth quarter in the year's most heated towns, Juja, Limuru and Kiserian, all of which experienced land price growth of over 12 per cent for the year, but of three per cent or less in the final quarter.

“Of these, Juja remained the most buoyant, while Kiserian slowed the most at year's end, with prices rising just 1.3 per cent from September to December,” the index says.

“Prices continued to accelerate in Ruiru, jumping a further 3.4 per cent in the last three months of the year and taking annual growth to 10.7 per cent.”

Similarly, the index adds, growth also picked up in Thika, Ruaka, Ongata Rongai and Kiambu, with only Kiambu delivering a price fall for the year, of 1.5 per cent, that stabilised further in the final quarter by a 0.3 per cent rise.

The real estate firm notes that while land price growth in the city's 18 monitored suburbs edged down marginally to 5.92 per cent for the year, and 1.32 per cent for the quarter, the three-year surge in satellite town land prices, which peaked in Q3 2024 at 12.58 per cent, slowed far more rapidly, returning to normal levels for the decade at 6.21 per cent at the end of 2025 - on quarterly growth of 1.59 per cent.

“2024 and 2025 land price growth has been the strongest we have experienced in Nairobi in a decade, driven by a chase for high-end locations for development,” said HassConsult Co-Chief Executive Sakina Hassanali.