Bad roads in Mombasa county are costing home builders a fortune as newly built houses remain unsold owing to inaccessibility.
TriStar Properties chief executive Leila Awale said the poor state of the roads, coupled with a garbage menace, has affected house sales significantly.
"In the past we used to sell about three or four units a week. Today you are lucky if you sell one (unit) a week," she said.
Accessibility and water availability are the two most significant factors that home buyers consider, she said.
Mohamed Savoy of Savoy Properties said traffic jams are irritating for investors and potential buyers.
"The matatus and tuktuks operate as if there are no traffic rules. They are the main cause of traffic jams," he said, adding that clients want to buy where they will access their homes "without any fuss".
Property developers and sellers say the roads are narrow and lack way-leaves, with utility providers having to dig up the shoulders whenever laying down cables.
MySpace Properties managing director Mwenda Thuranira said the "haphazard" digging of trenches and drainage systems has affected the real estate market negatively.
"Now everybody wants to dig the road. Any company wanting to lay cables digs the road. We should have one big kind of culvert underground all over,” he said.
Thuranira said breaking the road frequently is scaring away potential buyers and hindering the opening up of interior places such as Mwakirunge area where land would be relatively cheaper.
"Land is the major cost component in a project. And the nearer a piece of land is to infrastructure the more expensive it is.
"Without infrastructure, you realise it is almost impossible to do a good project," he said.
According to Awale, sales have dropped by about 35 per cent as a result, with some investors now preferring Tanzania and Rwanda.