Nairobi, March 14 -- Imagine sweating yourself out for several years, saving and doing all that you can so that you can build your family a nice home and escape the yoke of monthly rent, then having those dreams quashed by insecurity after putting up a unit and moving in.

Realtors say the ghost of insecurity is creeping back into several neighbourhoods and is wreaking havoc on single-dwelling unit owners, sending the would-be homeowners back to renting.

For those lucky enough, a working neighbourhood watch has proved to be a great deterrence although one must be home early and safely tucked in.

Take the example of Mary Wangui, a widower who was forced to move into her incomplete house in New Valley in Kitengela, on the outskirts of Nai...