New Developments in the Expat Housing Market in Addis Ababa

Whether you are an aspiring expatriate ready to embark on your first job placement abroad or a vetran who has worked abroad for many years and is considering a move, researching the expat housing situation in “your new host country” is a task that should never be overlooked or taken lightly. If you are considering a move to Addis Ababa, without a doubt, the first question you would like to get answered adequately is how easy or difficult it is for expatriates to rent a house in Addis Ababa at a reasonable budget. The honest answer is that it is not easy but it is also not all hopeless. The expatriate housing situation in Addis Ababa has changed tremendously over the last 10 years, to say the least. 

When I first started my real estate career in 2008 in the Ethiopian capital, there were many nice, expat-friendly, quiet, and green pockets in neighborhoods such as Bole and Old Airport and finding a beautiful house for rent in Addis Ababa at a reasonable budget was not so hard . However, this has changed in the last five years. Most of those areas, which used to be lively and neatly organized residential neighborhoods in Addis Ababa, are now dotted with noisy night clubs, “massage houses”, and other type of businesses. The same properties that used to be lovely homes are either being turned into commercial spaces or are being demolished to make way for construction of high rises or massive villas. The construction boom in Addis Ababa is also changing the city’s landscape in general and the so called expat-friendly neighborhoods in particular for once and for all. The dust and noise from the construction sites has made living in such locations quite unbearable. Your privacy is also at stake when you live in a house next to a tall building whether it is a finished building or still under construction.

For these reasons, finding small or medium size villas for rent in central Addis has become a challenge for many expats with limited housing allowances. These kind of people have to resort to leasing houses at one of the suburbs of Addis Ababa or settle for apartments in downtown Addis Ababa. High ranking executives, ambassadors, and heads of different diplomatic missions, who can afford to pay premium rental prices would find it relatively easier to find good villas for rent in Addis Ababa’s popular zip codes although even this segment of the market is still far from being perfect. 

The point of writing this article is not to scare you or  cause you to abandon your idea of moving to Addis Ababa to live and work. It is rather to help you to have realistic expectations about the available housing options in Addis Ababa and encourage you to negotiate with your employer (as hard as you could) to get them agree to give you a good housing allowance or subsidy because even renting apartments in Addis Ababa is not cheap. An average 2 bedroom apartment in Addis Ababa would cost $2,000 – $2,500 per month. The rental price of more upscale 2 bedroom apartments falls in the range of $3,000 – $4,000 per month. Below is a list of rental prices of apartments in Addis Ababa by category, which we hope will help you understand the market better. 

Rent of average/standard apartments in Addis Ababa

1 bedroom apartment: $1,000 – $1,200

2 bedroom apartment: $2,000 – $2,500

3 bedroom apartment: $2,750 – $3,200

Rent of high-end apartments in Addis Ababa

1 bedroom: $1,500 – $1,800

2 bedroom: $3,000 – $4,000

3 bedroom: $4,000 – $4,500

In conclusion, the cost of living in Addis Ababa is quite reasonable except for the cost of housing. if you are considering to move to Addis Ababa as an expatriate, be mindful about the high cost of housing in Addis Ababa before you accept any job offer. 

The author of the article is Yirgalem Mengistu, who is the co-founder of Ethiopian Properties (www.ethiopianproperties.com).