CFC Stanbic Bank's share in mortgage business dropped to eight per cent last year from 13.6 per cent in 2009 despite raising its mortgage book to Sh6.6 billion from Sh6.1 billion in the same period. The head of retail banking at CFC Stanbic Mr Elly Odhong says the bank attributes the slow down in new mortgage applications with the bank to high interest rates.

Despite the increase in the number of mortgage accounts from 13,803 in June 2010 to 17,000 last December,  some banks have been experiencing lower applications for new mortgages.

The high interest rates are threatening the booming property market which was thriving on rapid urbanization, population growth and expansion of the middle class citizenry.

The tight monetary policy has been blamed for the rocketing interest rates from 12% in 2010 to the currents rates of between 19 % and 25%.

Kenya Commercial Bank's huge capital base has aided it to build on their account of long-term loans.KCB has more than doubled its mortgage book to Sh33.7 billion last year from Sh15.6 billion in 2009, raising its market share among the top six mortgage lenders to 40.8 per cent from 35 per cent in a similar period last year (Business Daily).

This development has opened a huge gap between KCB and its closest competitor Housing Finance whose mortgage portfolio grew 66.8 per cent to Sh25.2 billion, with its market share dropping from 33.8 per cent to 30.5 per cent.