Nairobi, Feb. 13 -- Prime office developers kept their asking rents flat, even as occupancy rates increased, making investors in commercial space miss out on the double-digit returns being witnessed by their peers in other segments of real estate.

This is after players in the office space category battled to attract new tenants and reduce the volume of idle space in an oversupplied market.

A new report on Kenya's property sector by Knight Frank shows that the prime asking rent for Grade A offices remained unchanged at $1.20 (Sh192) per square foot, attributed by the firm to tough economic conditions.

This upper price level is expected to prevail this year, even as developers cut back on new projects due to the oversupply and rising cos...