Why townhouses are selling faster than apartments

Apartments are taking longer to sell compared to townhouses and bungalows, pointing to a growing desire for privacy among homeowners, the latest data reveals.

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) Real Estate Sector Survey 2023-24 shows two and three-bedroom apartments take three times more months compared to two and three-bedroom bungalows to be sold.

This is despite a two-bedroom townhouse going for almost Sh10 million more when compared to a two-bedroom apartment. A two-bedroom townhouse takes six months between advertising and sale to be handed over to the new owner.

The same is the case with a three-bedroom bungalow which takes eight months to be sold after advertising when compared to a three-bedroom apartment that takes 19 months.

The average price of a three-bedroom bungalow according to the report is Sh23.6 million compared to Sh13.5 million for a three-bedroom apartment.

These dynamics point to the fact that more Kenyans, especially those with families, are interested in space when looking for a house and not necessarily the price.

As such, despite an apartment being cheaper, homeowners are willing to pay more just to get that extra space.

While the head of sales at Superior Homes Clive Ndege attributes this to the need for privacy, especially for family-oriented buyers, the head of Development Consulting and Research at HassConsult Sakina Hassanali notes in the latest price indices for the last quarter of 2024 that these standalone units or detached homes are in short supply which also explains their higher prices.

Compared to apartments, townhouses and bungalows are associated with privacy and spaces that can fit kitchen gardens or children’s play areas.

Apartments, at most, may have a balcony or a common space shared with the rest of the residents. KNBS describes a townhouse as a single-family home that shares at least one common wall with another home. “Townhouses are part of a larger complex or community comprised of several identical or near-identical homes and offer large living spaces, plenty of amenities and a low-maintenance lifestyle. They are more affordable than standalone single-family homes but allow for more privacy than condos or apartments,” reads the survey.

A bungalow is a detached, stand-alone house without upper floors or rooms, typically designed to be occupied by one family. This also includes the ‘townhouses’ which are detached houses of a similar style built in one compound, often found in urban high-end neighbourhoods.

An apartment shares a common access through common stairways, and elevators, among others.

Residential properties

The survey explains that the availability of spaces guarantees a strong demand for residential property. According to the data, while CCTV, at 59.8 per cent, was the most common amenity in residential properties, the garden backyard or play area was the second at 59.1 per cent.

“The survey revealed that properties with amenities such as parking spaces, CCTV surveillance, and backup generators were in high demand, with maisonettes having a higher proportion of domestic servant quarters compared to other types,” the report says.

The survey states that the residential property market showed strong demand, with 76.2 per cent of properties that were in the market having been successfully sold in 2023.

“Properties like two-bedroom bungalows and four-bedroom maisonettes had especially high sales rates,” it says.

“However, price variations were notable across regions depending on the size and location of the property. The survey also highlighted the longer off-take times for certain property types, particularly apartments, which had an average off-take time of 16 months.”

When it comes to sales, the survey states that all the two-bedroom bungalows in the market in 2023 were sold.

“All the two-bedroom bungalows in the Nairobi regions that were advertised were sold during the year. All the three-bedroom bungalows in Machakos, Kiambu, Nairobi Upper and Nairobi Upper Middle regions that were advertised were sold during the year. In Machakos, all the three-bedroom maisonette, four and above bedroom maisonette as well as three-bedroom townhouses that were on offer for sale in 2023 were sold during the year,” the survey says.

Even when it comes to rent, the KNBS survey shows high rates for townhouses. “Townhouses had the highest rental rates, with two-bedroom units leasing for Sh120,000 per month,” the survey says.

Family-oriented buyers

According to the data, 76.2 per cent of all residential properties that were on offer during the period were sold.

While 100 per cent of the two-bedroom bungalows on offer were sold, the figure was 76.5 per cent for two-bedroom apartments. When it comes to four bedrooms and above, the bungalows on offer sold 92.0 per cent compared to 71.2 per cent for apartments.

Mr Ndege confirms that two and three-bedroom bungalows and townhouses are among the units that are in high demand linking this to value for money, future-proofing and family-oriented buyers.

“Standalone houses do offer the family orientations one could want better than an equivalent of an apartment. You may find an apartment block that has maybe 90 units and goes up to the 12th floor. And of course, if you are having small children you do not want to be on the very top floor because of the risk of falling,” he says. The availability of space in townhouses and bungalow units, adds Mr Ndege, also allows the owners to add more value to the property by putting up gazebos, servant quarters, or kennels for pets.

More space, he says, is also synonymous with the current hybrid working system. “This is not to say that apartments cannot have a common area for children to play but then it is not the same standalone whereby you want them to have private space,” he adds.

He says standalone houses provide buyers with value for money as one can add servants’ quarters and rent them out for extra income.

“We have two and three bedrooms at Pazuri at in Vipingo, GreenPark and the new Lukenya Plains where we allow setting up of servants’ quarters or gazebos. People can set up those servant quarters and gazebos as home offices. At GreenPark, people rent out the servant quarters to students at Daystar University,” he explains.

“You cannot do a standalone one-bedroom. It will not make sense. That is why you find these units start from two bedrooms.”

In the HassConsult report, Ms Hassanali documents strong annual growth supported by a rise in detached house prices, which grew 1.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 7.5 per cent year-on-year.

However, semi-detached and apartment prices faced pressure in the fourth quarter, with declines of 0.8 and 0.6 per cent respectively, despite posting annual gains of 0.8 and 1.6 per cent.