Short, monthly observations from the team — what we’re seeing in the data and on the ground. Pricing, neighborhoods, supply, the things that move and the things that don’t.
After eighteen months of steady increases, listed rents for two-bedroom flats in Ntinda have held within a 4% band since February. New supply along the bypass appears to be the main pressure release. Single self-contained units, however, are still moving up — by about 7% year-on-year, driven by single-occupant professionals priced out of Bukoto.
Roughly one in five units we surveyed in upper Muyenga has switched to short-stay platforms in the last year. It is good for owners — gross yield is materially higher — but it is part of why long-let asking prices in the same blocks are now 9 to 12% higher than they were a year ago. We expect the trend to continue until short-stay yields normalise or regulation arrives.
We pulled a sample of 400 listings published in Q1. Listings with primary photos shot in late-afternoon light received almost twice as many inquiries as midday or evening shots — at the same asking rent. The difference is mostly window light: rooms photographed at noon look flat, evening shots fight artificial lights, but 3–5pm reads as warm and lived-in.
Bukoto overtook Ntinda in saved searches in January and held the top spot through February. The catch: actual listings posted are about a third of search volume, so units there move fast — median time-to-rent in Bukoto is 11 days versus 19 platform-wide. If you can list there, list there.
Counter to a common assumption, inquiries from outside Uganda do not peak in December–January. They peak in March and again in August — anchored to school terms and to the gap between rainy seasons. Listings priced for diaspora budgets should plan campaigns around those two windows, not the holidays.