Kenya’s new property kings

Money from Kenyans living abroad and war profiteering in the region has flooded into the Kenyan property market, leading to a doubling of prices for land and houses and steep increases in rents, real estate experts say.They attribute this trend in part to demand by non-Kenyans, most of them from war-torn Somalia.The areas most affected are Nairobi, Mombasa and other major urban centres where the price of land has more than doubled as property is sold long before it is ready for occupation.And the increase in prices has not only affected upmarket areas but low and middle-income residential neighbourhoods as well.Findings by the Sunday Nation follow investigations by international security agencies that have discovered that millions of dollars reaped from piracy along the Somali coast and drug trafficking are finding their way into Kenya and other parts of the world through an intricate money-laundering scheme masterminded by international criminal syndicates. The money-laundering, which also involves proceeds from tax evasion, has focused the attention of international security agencies on Kenya, which is being seen as a regional hub for the illicit activities. Areas of Nairobi most affected by the rise in property prices include Karen where the cost of an acre of land has jumped from about Sh5 million three to five years ago to at least Sh15 million today..more..http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/545998/-/u354d9/-/index.html