Kenya's Luxury Housing Market Grows 25 Percent

Africa, the continent most Westerner’s refer to as a country, houses many of the world’s most needed resources. It is also known for housing some of the world’s highest rates for diseases, government instability, and poverty. Kenya, which is located within the vast continent, has witnessed many of these disparities on its land, but there is much change happening within the country, particularly within its capital Nairobi. According to housing analysts, Nairobi is the best prime residential market in the world. This is based on the fact that the values in the city grew up to 25 percent, which outpaced major cities such as Miami and London.

Housing Market Growth is Due to Kenyan and Kenyan-linked Investors

Houses for Sale in Kenya
Source: CNN.com

The housing market growth in Nairobi is largely due to Kenyan and Kenyan-linked investors fueling money into the market. Many outside investors are hesitant to invest in Kenya’s housing market because of the history of the country. Recently, there has been an instance of “Somali pirates” kidnapping tourists from the neighboring border of Kenya, which has made people very weary of purchasing houses in Kenya. Another major reason for why investors are uncertain to buy in Nairobi is because they view many if not all African countries as lawless places. Investors would hate to buy a house and return to find that they no longer own it due to some mishap or scam.

Biased News Can Cause Opinions to Be Spread as Facts

One element that is essentially instrumental to Kenya’s success of appealing to international clients is that of favorable international press. This is critical because if news agencies report overwhelming negative aspects about Kenya then there may not be a large growth in the housing market. This especially applies to news organizations that serve a widespread audience that crosses state lines and even country boarders. A couple of news organizations that fall under this category are CNN and Al Jazeera. These two organizations have a strong following of people, with many of the readers not questioning the content that is delivered. Some people are knowledgeable to seek more information on what is presented, but many will not which can cause opinions to be further spread as facts.

Al Jazeera Gives Viewers Questionable Details about Nairobi’s Housing Boom

Reviewing the two news stories about the housing boom in Kenyan, there are stark differences between how CNN covers the story versus Al Jazeera. In the case of CNN, they provided clear and concise evidence of what was happening with the housing market. This ranged from who were the key players, which are the Kenyans abroad, how fast the growth has been for the market, and the potential security reasons for why Nairobi’s market may not continue to grow without international investors. Al Jazeera’s angle of the story takes a much more biased and maybe considered unethical journalism. The reporter gives some details about the housing boom, but the story soon takes a major turn. The reporter starts to speculate that the housing boom may be due to Somali piracy. He has no evidence to back his statements as he continues to use words like “may” and “could be” which are considered words of uncertainty. He does not provide a basis for his claims.

CNN Provides Concrete Descriptions on Kenya’s Housing Boom

From the above information, CNN’s article is deemed the more reliable on this topic. As mentioned before, they were able to provide concrete information from reputable sources on the topic. They were not one sided with the presentation of the information by letting readers know that there are some possible caveats involved in owning a home in the particular area. They also provided information that the surrounding areas of Nairobi are also experiencing an upward trend in those housing markets too. With Al Jazeera, the focus is solely on the possibility of the uptick in the market due to Somali piracy.

Neither News Source Provides Information on How the Housing Boom Affects Locals

One surprising piece of information that was left out of both news stories was the lack of facts regarding how this new housing boom would affect the local community. As in the CNN article, the author states that the town which the new houses are being built has not changed substantially in the past 500 years. More knowledge should be reported on how this new boom is effecting the economy of Kenya, and if native Kenyans or people native to the are able to work the construction jobs that are being created.

Sources: Al Jazeera and CNN