Real estate: A viable investment in Nigeria - Expert

Sola Oluwadare, Lagos

First governor of Kwara State,
Brigadier General David
Bamigboye, (middle) receiving
Kwaccima merit award from the
Deputy Governor of Kwara State,
Chief Joel Afolabi Ogundeji, in
Ilorin, Kwara State, recently.Despite the fears expressed that the global economic crisis will affect major industries in the country, a real estate expert, Kimdo Kaduno, who is the Head of Real Estate for Koltron, a group of companies that deals in property acquisition and development, investment of funds and forex trading, has assured that real estate remains a viable business in Nigeria.

Though she stated that some believed that it was only a matter of time before the industry also crashed due to the fact that it was only enjoying a boom because of Nigerians abroad who have been trying to acquire property, Kaduno said that real estate remained a viable investment in Nigeria even if there were no foreign investments.

In her words, “People are beginning to realise that real estate is the most secure in Africa, which is true. There are no natural disasters like landslides, tornados or earthquakes in Nigeria; meaning that property bought will always be secure.

Ms Kaduno admitted that there were a few problems that could be associated with real estate development in Nigeria such as lack of main-tenance culture, shortage of workable mortgage facilities, the presence of quack real estate agents in the market, as well as the skyrocketing prices of land and property.

“Still, the market has shown no sign of depreciation. In fact, most people are on the lookout for landed property that can match the size of their pockets. They buy into real estate not only in major cities such as Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna, Kano and Portharcourt, but also in Anambra, Delta and Niger states as well.”

On the possible impact of the global economic crisis, she said: “It is a known fact that the global financial meltdown has affected many sectors of the world economy.

Oil prices have taken a significant turn, plunging to their lowest in many years, while the exchange rate of the dollar to the naira and other currencies have increased sharply. There is fear that even developed countries like Great Britain, Switzerland, and Germany could suffer the impact of the crisis. More recently, Nigeria, which was believed to be on top of its game, admitted that it was, infact, facing problems and needed to cut government spending amidst the economic meltdown.

“The crisis has already impacted negatively on our crude oil returns, banking system, industries, businesses and has even led to job cuts. It appears that most aspects of the economy have been affected, leaving a lot of nationals pessimistic. One thing that has remained stable for Nigeria, however, is real estate. Real estate is a legal term used to refer to land and permanent structures such as buildings.”

The property market has a vast number of opportunities for Nigeria, she said. In Abuja, for instance, there is the presence of urban and rural areas. Places like Garki, Wuse, Maitama and Asokoro are considered as the ‘township’ simply because they are where the businesses, ministries, diplomatic missions and shopping malls are in high concentration.

“Now, imagine if these ministries were de-centralised so that some of them can be found in places like Zuba, Abaji and Karimo. Naturally, the road transport workers would respond adequately and arrange their schedules in such a way that they begin to ply those roads. There would be less traffic in the township and more people would be willing to move to such areas to live rather than continue to over-populate the business district of Abuja.

“What should be of real concern to a potential land buyer are the agents or real estate managers he deals with. How authentic are they? How well can they deliver? And if you are in doubt, why not do proper research on who the real ‘players’ in the industry are? There is certainly nothing to lose and plenty to gain,” Ms Kaduno said.