Mizizi Africa Homes operations director, George Mburu, told the media, “We expect most activities to gradually return to optimum levels to correct longer development periods, a situation we had been pushed into by the Covid-19 pandemic. A longer lockdown period meant that developer operational costs of completing housing units also rose on reduced incomes. This situation if sustained would have threatened sustainability and existence of developers.” 

Despite the pandemic’s impact on Africa’s real estate sector, the developer is quite confident that it will continue to perform well. “Gradual re-opening of the economy should be able to reverse the adverse effects on job losses, savings and investment funds held by potential home-owners,” Mburu added. 

It seems that lockdown has forced several players in the real estate sector to cut down the number of workers on sites and disrupted the supply chain system. This in turn has affected projects’ completion, but the situation is expected to improve in the future. It is recorded that nearly 300,000 people have lost their jobs in Kenya since March when it reported the first coronavirus case, media reports said.

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It is reported that the country’s real estate sector has recorded slow growth in the first quarter of 2020 on the back of the pandemic. Another real estate firm as part of Cytonn Investment in its report said, “The spread of the Coronavirus took its toll on key sectors including the tourism sector, which saw hotels suspending operations and this effect is expected to trickle down to the overall real estate, particularly commercial real estate amidst the current global economic crisis.”

Also, demand for commercial space is expected to drop as companies and individuals are currently using the working from home plan. This is not to say that there is low demand in Kenya’s real estate but the effects are quite prominent at this time. In fact, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in an Economic Survey 2020 report said, “Real estate and other services are expected to be suppressed due to slowdown in economic activities and declining disposable incomes.”

Interestingly, demand for apartments in Kenya continues despite the pandemic as it is driven by the middle-class section of the society. It is reported that Langata, Athi River, Kilimani, and Ruaka have recorded the highest returns to investors. This can be attributed to the young and working population in Nairobi, a local media reported.

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