16/06/2023
The Way Forward for Nigeria's Real Estate Sector. Penned by William M. Nsobundu Esq.
Nigeria's housing deficit stands at 28 Million as at 2022 according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
The total contribution of the real estate sector to the Gross Domestic Product of Nigeria in 2022 stood at 5.64 per cent, higher than the 5.60 reported in 2021.
According to the World Economics online blog Nigeria's total GDP for 2022 stood at USD 1.085 Trillion.
The above statistics simply disclose that there is an immense opportunity in terms of demand for real estate. Real estate is making progress albeit slow progress.
The solution to the housing deficit is to rejig Nigeria's mortgage framework in collaboration with the Organised Private Sector and the mortgage institutions.
To remodel and rejig the mortgage framework there is a need to amend existing mortgage laws, regulatory framework and devise a workable financing model to increase access to low-cost housing by low and middle income Nigerians.
Mortgage thrives on an efficient credit system and with the Credit Bureau in place, BVN data, SIM Registration data and NIN data, it is is not rocket science to build a mortgage system that will integrate the various aforementioned data into a formidable platform that will be used to pre-qualify persons for mortgage on terms that will not be too stringent and elitist.
Finally there ,must be an intervention policy and special funding by CBN and the banks to provide single-digit interest rates for loans deployed to housing development.
Import duty waivers should be granted for building materials for which we do not have in-country capacity and self-sufficiency.
The truth is that every economic challenge bows to strategic policy implementation and special funding that is driven by political will and transparency.
This is my position on the way forward for the real estate sector in Nigeria.
