# Rent across Greater Accra — accra.cool > Live 2BR rent medians across 25 Greater Accra neighborhoods, with commute-adjusted ranking and income-band affordability strips. ## Current snapshot - **Madina rising fastest at 8.3% over 30d** — cedi translation + demand - **only 2 prime neighborhoods flat this month** — East Legon and Cantonments — others moved - **mid 2BR median: GHS 3,650** — across 12 cedi-quoted areas - **outer 2BR median: GHS 2,200** — across 5 outer areas - **prime 2BR median: USD 1,500** — across 8 dollar-quoted neighborhoods ## Where Accra rent stands today Greater Accra's rental market splits cleanly into three layers. The prime layer — East Legon, Cantonments, Airport Residential, Labone, Ridge, Roman Ridge, Dzorwulu — is dollar-denominated. A 2-bedroom unit here ranges from $1,400 to $1,800 monthly, paid in advance for a full year. This is where expatriates, multinationals, and the upper-middle class live. The mid layer — Spintex, Tema Community 1, Dansoman, Adabraka, Achimota — is cedi-denominated, ranges ₵2,800 to ₵4,500 for a 2BR, with one-year prepayment also standard. The outer layer — Kasoa, Madina outer, Adenta, Ashaley Botwe — runs ₵1,500 to ₵2,800 for a 2BR with sometimes only six months prepayment required. Each layer behaves differently. ## Why landlords demand a year upfront Ghanaian rental law technically caps advance rent at six months, but the prime market routinely demands twelve. The reason isn't legal — it's currency hedging. A landlord who collects a year of rent in dollars or cedis at January's rate carries no cedi-depreciation risk for the next twelve months. Tenants who can pay annually get the better units; tenants who push for six months get the worse units, the older buildings, and the more demanding landlords. For dollar-denominated tenants this matters less because dollar rent indexed in dollars carries no cedi exposure. For cedi-denominated tenants paying ₵4,500/month, fronting ₵54,000 in January when the cedi might weaken 15% by December is a meaningful financial decision. ## Which neighborhoods are heating up Spintex is the fastest-rising neighborhood in our 30-day window at +3.4% week-over-week and +6.2% over 30 days. Its rise is driven by the Tema motorway extension, faster commute times to the airport, and the steady flow of corporate relocations from Tema to Spintex over the past 18 months. East Legon prime is up 2.1% w/w but only 4.8% over 30 days — climbing steadily rather than accelerating. Labone is up 2.5% over the month, mostly on new high-end developments. Cantonments and Airport Residential are flat, which historically means they're close to a price ceiling that the market won't cross without a macro catalyst. The outer ring (Kasoa, Madina) is rising at single digits, tracking general cedi inflation rather than market demand. ## The dollar trap (and why most tenants fall into it) Paying rent in dollars feels safer for tenants because the amount looks stable. But "stable in dollars" means rising in cedi terms — and most tenants earn in cedis. A $1,400 East Legon 2BR cost ₵14,140 in May 2025 at ₵10.10 to the dollar; it costs ₵15,736 today at ₵11.24. Same rent in dollars, ₵1,596 more per month in cedis. Over a year that's ₵19,000 of effective rent increase invisible to anyone tracking only the dollar figure. The honest comparison between two neighborhoods needs both currencies converted to one base — we always show both on the explorer below. ## Why we anchor on 2-bedroom prices The 2-bedroom is the most-rented unit type in Greater Accra and the cleanest comparison point across neighborhoods. 1-bedroom inventory is dominated by studio conversions and serviced apartments that aren't price-comparable. 3- and 4-bedroom inventory is dominated by family homes where price is driven by lot size and amenities, not by neighborhood per se. The 2-bedroom is where neighborhood premium shows up cleanly. When you see East Legon 2BR at $1,400 and Spintex 2BR at ₵4,500, you're seeing what each neighborhood actually charges for the same product, controlled for size. ## Rent is cheap until you factor in commute A Madina 2BR at ₵2,400/month looks like 40% of an East Legon 2BR at ₵15,700/month. But if the Madina tenant drives to Airport City for work — 18km, typically 45 minutes each way in traffic, twice a day — that's ₵1,800/month in fuel and trotro fares depending on the mode. Add 22 hours per month sitting in traffic. The actual cost gap shrinks from ₵13,300/month to ₵11,500/month, and you're paying for it in time too. The commute-adjusted rent calculator below adds estimated transport cost to nominal rent and shows you the real number. East Legon and Labone often win this comparison against the outer ring, despite their headline premium. ## Where to actually find listings Three primary marketplaces in Greater Accra. MeQasa (meqasa.com) is the largest, with the deepest prime market inventory and the most accurate price displays. Ghana Property Centre (ghanapropertycentre.com) is the runner-up; weaker on prime but better on Adenta and Spintex. Jiji (jiji.com.gh) covers the budget tier most comprehensively but with the least reliable pricing — a "₵2,000 2BR" on Jiji can turn out to be ₵3,500 once you call. Facebook groups (Accra Houses For Rent, etc.) are where the genuinely best deals appear, but they require relationship-building. Anything advertised on a billboard is overpriced. ## Methodology Rent medians are aggregated weekly from listings on MeQasa, Ghana Property Centre, and Jiji, filtered for the 25 tracked neighborhoods. We exclude furnished serviced apartments, short-term lets under 90 days, and listings priced above the 95th percentile for their neighborhood (likely premium villas, not representative). Medians are computed across the qualifying listings; the displayed amount is the median. Delta percentages are week-on-week and month-on-month against the same-day-of-week last period. Currency policy: prime neighborhoods (eight specific areas) quoted in USD because that's the market convention; everywhere else quoted in GHS. --- Source: accra.cool. View the live interactive version at https://accra.cool/rent Attribution: accra.cool desk.