Experts warn that this is likely to rise further by at least four per cent by December unless the shilling stabilises.
An architect James Dingiri yesterday told the Star that the price varies depending on location, design, quality of materials, infrastructure among other factors.
"It now costs at least Sh2.8 billion to set up a one-bedroom unit in Nairobi up from Sh2.4 million in 2020. It is however quite lower to set up a similar structure in parts of Western, Eastern and Central Kenya,'' Dingiri said.
He said, the cost of some of construction materials especially timber, steel and cement has witnessed the fastest price climb in 20 years starting February this year.
''I have never witnessed such a phenomena in my over 32 years of practise in the construction industry. At some point, steel and cement prices went up by 300 per cent on the global supply glitch,''Dingiri said.
His estimates reflects the latest cost computation by the Integrum Construction Project Managers who say the average building cost per square metre has risen by seven per cent.
According to the firm's Construction Index the average building cost per square metre at between Sh34,650 to Sh77,500 from last year’s average of Sh33,450 – Sh72,400.
According to the index, a standard bungalow in Nairobi region, for instance, will cost you about Sh34,650 per square metre, while a middle-class maisonette goes for Sh38,500 per square metre.
Job Mukoli who is setting up a three-bedroom maisonette in his rural village of Senende in Vihiga County said he has so far spend close Sh2.5 million, with some work still pending.
''My house is 75-80 per cent complete but already spent close to Sh2.5 million. I project to spend close to Sh3.5 million, Sh1 million above my estimates in 2020,''Mukoli said.
He says that he spent Sh2.2 million to set up a similar structure for his parents in 2018, adding that the cost of cement, timber, labour and steel has gone up by more than 40 per cent.
''A bag of cement is now going for close to Sh800, up from Sh550 in 2018. I really pity anyone with a house construction project,''he said.
Early this year, most cement firms raised the cost of cement by Sh1,000, attributing this to a weak shilling and lack of raw materials.
Although global steel prices have been on the decline since June after rising by more than 200 percent earlier in the year, they are still at a five-year high.
Having nosedived 20 per cent in the two months till June 8 on poor demand, experts are of optimistic that domestic steel prices are set to fall further.
Steel mills, on the other hand, feel prices have reached the lowest level and will soon start picking up.
Hovering at $44 to $45 per tonne in January-July 2020, prices of benchmark product hot-rolled coil (HRC) started picking up from $46 a tonne in the first week of August 2020 to reach its peak at $93 a tonne in the first week of April this year.
As on June 8, HRC prices in the wholesale market stood at $75.2 a tonne.
In Kenya, the 3 by 3 by 14 gauge (3x3x14g) steel tube used mainly for window grills was retailing at Sh3, 480 in December is now retailing at between Sh5, 000 and Sh5, 500.
In December, 3 by 3 by 14 gauge was going for Sh2, 200 but has since soared to almost 3,700, an increase of Sh1,500.
The 2x2x16g tube, sold for Sh1, 500 in December, now retails at prices between Sh2, 500 to Sh2700.
Financial analyst Joshua Kinyua says the resulting supply-demand mismatch has driven up construction costs, increasing the risks of cost-blowouts as well as project delays and cancellations.
''Lockdowns in China and the Russia-Ukraine conflict have intensified global supply chain disruptions which means that input costs are likely to remain elevated for some time,'' Kinyua said.
His sentiments are echoed by Rufas Kimani of EGM Securities who says the weakening shilling is going to pile pressure on the general cost of living, considering that Kenya is largely an import economy.
Kenya Imports of Iron and steel was $1.28 billion over (Sh150 billion) last year, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade.
