Published on 06 November 2005 at 04:40 pm
Filed under: Africa:- Kenya Property Guides » Kenya Property Investment Guide
Spot targeted property investment has been popular in the most desirable tourist destinations in Kenya for a number of years; even before many believed the economic and political climate to be stable and ‘safe’ enough for significant financial commitment to be made to Kenya.
Following on from the democratic ousting of the former president in 2002, Kenya’s economic fortunes have slowly but surely begun improving and now overseas investors are beginning to plough substantial funds into Kenya’s property sector. Investors have a growing confidence in Kenya now that the newly elected president has made a commitment to his people to promote Kenya to the wider world, encourage donor support and strengthen the country’s economy by rooting out corruption and targeting foreign direct investment for the creation of employment and business opportunities in Kenya.
Determining factors for foreign direct investment inflows into Kenya are political stability and predictability, improved labour conditions, stable legal environment, the openness of the economy and incentives such as taxation breaks for example. So far the government of Kenya are holding true to their word and working on improving all of these areas and they are being financially rewarded as FDI percentages are increasing annually.
Property investors have always been drawn to Kenya as have international tourists. The beauty and rich natural diversity of this African country are irresistible forces after all. Tourists came to Kenya to visit wildlife reserves and the beautiful Indian Ocean beaches even during the years of political disharmony. And real estate investors targeted these areas through the purchase of accommodation to let out to tourists and also through the development of small commercial ventures to target tourism.
Now that international confidence in Kenya is beginning to show in the form of increased international financial commitment, so property investor interest has broadened and increased. The most popular areas for real estate investment in Kenya remain the game reserves and resorts all along the Indian Ocean coast from Lamu to Diani and beyond, but the range of micro-market sectors being targeted by the investor has diversified. Tourism is still the number one market sector real estate investors target in Kenya, but coming up close on its heals are the second home and retirement sectors.
The cost of living in Kenya is very low and now the stability of the country is vastly improved more holiday and retirement home hunters are finding that they can achieve a good standard of living in an incredibly beautiful country and buy up property for very low prices. Overseas property investors are developing or buying into developments of properties for these types of buyers increasingly.
The future prospects for Kenya are incredibly promising if the present government can achieve all they have set out to achieve. So far they have made great inroads into solving the fundamental issues restricting their country and overseas commitment to Kenya in the form of aid and investment is now free flowing. Real estate investors may like to take confidence in these facts and the information that tourism numbers in Kenya have exploded since 2002. The numbers of tourists visiting Kenya rose by one third between 2002 and 2004 for example and these figures are continuing to rise. Property investment opportunities are in abundance in Kenya and it is an exciting emerging market for real estate investors.
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