Nairobi — Centum Investment Company’s real estate subsidiary has booked house pre-sales worth Sh3.5 billion and collected Sh1.6 billion between April 2020 and February 2021, surpassing the corresponding ten-month period before Covid-19 was first reported in Kenya.
The pre-sale collections are Sh300 million more than the Sh1.3 billion collected between April 2019 and February 2020, the comparable ten months just before the first case of coronavirus was reported in Nairobi on March 13, 2020.
The higher house pre-sales indicate strong appetite for Centum Real Estate houses, despite the subdued economic environment caused by the global coronavirus pandemic.
"Our teams continued to deliver on our projects even during the worst months of the pandemic, and this built a lot of confidence in our existing and potential customers hence the increased sales," said the Centum Real Estate Managing Director, Samuel Kariuki.
"The larger proportion of our portfolio addresses the affordable and mid-market segments where the demand continues to exceed the fragmented supply," noted Kariuki.
Centum Real Estate’s properties currently under construction within the Two Rivers Residential District are Loft Residences, Riverbank Apartments and Cascadia Apartments, in addition, to its mixed use developments in Vipingo, Kilifi and Entebbe in Uganda.
Other developments in Nairobi include the 365 Pavilion Place Apartments in Ruaraka and the 265 Elmer One in Kasarani, both falling under affordable node program.
The cumulative pre-sales represent 1,322 units out of a total 3,093 houses either under construction or market-validation.
The cash collections represent an average inflow of Sh230 million per month since Centum issued a project bond late last year to finance its real estate projects, up from an average of Sh166 million per month prior to the bond issue.
Centum RE has also collected Sh2 billion from land sales in Vipingo, out of a deal pipeline of Sh8 billion.
"All our real estate developments are delivered to highest standards, on schedule and on budget and that is why many investors are choosing to put their cash in our projects," said Kariuki.This real estate sector has been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, with buyers and developers struggling to raise funds amid tighter credit conditions imposed by banks, which are wary of the risk exposure.Centum RE’s track record assures its investors of quality, value for money, timely handover of projects, and a return on their investment.The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics data covering the second quarter of 2020 shows the sector growth slowed to 3.9 percent compared to a […]