Kenya Property Market: Is It Becoming a Buyer’s Market?

Are Kenyan buyers gaining more negotiating power?
When buyers have more options to choose from, sellers may have to compete harder for their attention.
As of July 2026, the average commercial bank lending rate stood at 14.39%, down from 17.2% in November 2024.
For anyone looking to buy or sell property in 2026, understanding that shift may be just as important as understanding the property itself.

I came across a story recently about how the US property market is slowly shifting in favour of buyers. For years, sellers had the upper hand, but new data shows that sellers now outnumber buyers by 58%, the widest gap recorded since Redfin began tracking the data in 2013. Homes are also staying on the market for longer, with almost five months of inventory available.

What caught my attention, however, was not just what is happening in the US. It got me thinking about our own property market here in Kenya.

Are we seeing something similar? Are Kenyan buyers gaining more negotiating power? And what would a market that favours buyers actually look like?

What Does a Buyer's Market Actually Mean?

Simply put, a buyer's market is one where there are more properties available relative to the number of buyers looking to purchase them.

When buyers have more options to choose from, sellers may have to compete harder for their attention. This can create more room to negotiate on price, terms or other conditions of a sale.

But having more choice does not automatically mean buyers are rushing to purchase.

The US story is a good example of this. While buyers may have more leverage, inflation and higher mortgage costs are still making some people hesitant to commit to a purchase.

Kenya's situation is different, but there are some interesting signs worth looking at.

What Is Happening in Kenya?

According to Kenya Property Centre's Q3 2026 market report, properties that were eventually sold took a median of 576 days from being listed to the agent recording the sale. The report is based on 298 completed sales, so this should not be interpreted as the amount of time every property in Kenya takes to sell.

At the same time, the median asking price for property for sale was KSh18 million, based on more than 5,600 listings in the report.

So, does this mean Kenya is now a buyer's market?

Not necessarily.

The data points to a market where buyers have options and where some properties may take considerable time to sell, but that alone is not enough to classify the entire Kenyan property market as a buyer's market.

There is another important piece of the puzzle: prices are still moving.

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics reported that residential property prices increased by 4.8% year-on-year in Q1 2026, showing that property values have not simply been falling across the board.

What About Mortgage Rates and Affordability?

Financing conditions also matter.

As of July 2026, the average commercial bank lending rate stood at 14.39%, down from 17.2% in November 2024. The Central Bank Rate was 8.75% as of August 2026.

This creates a more complicated picture.

Kenya may not be experiencing a straightforward shift from a seller's market to a buyer's market. Instead, buyers are operating in a market where they have more information, more properties to compare and, in some cases, more time to make a decision.

And that could be changing how property is bought and sold.

What Does This Mean for Kenyan Buyers?

For buyers, a slower-moving market can create an opportunity to be more deliberate.

Rather than feeling pressured to take the first property that looks right, buyers can compare prices across similar properties, look at how long a property has been listed and assess whether the asking price reflects what similar properties in the area are going for.

Pricing matters too.

Recent data shows that sale listings priced at or up to 10% above the local median received 13.9 enquiries per 100 listings, compared with 12.3 enquiries for those priced more than 10% above the local median.

It is a relatively small difference, but it highlights an important point: price can influence how much attention a property receives.

And What Does It Mean for Sellers?

For sellers, this makes understanding the market just as important.

A property can have all the features a buyer wants, but if it is priced significantly above comparable properties, it may struggle to attract serious interest.

This does not necessarily mean sellers need to drop their prices. It means they need to understand what buyers are comparing their property against and what the current market is telling them.

So, Is Kenya's Property Market Shifting in Favour of Buyers?

The answer may not be as simple as yes or no.

But one thing is clear: buyers are becoming more deliberate, sellers need to pay closer attention to pricing, and the days of assuming that a property will sell simply because it is on the market are changing.

For anyone looking to buy or sell property in 2026, understanding that shift may be just as important as understanding the property itself.

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