Amidst hyper inflation and high cost of building materials, such as cement, sand and steel, real estate stakeholders have forecasted a stable market for 2023.
This is even as they called for collaboration between construction industry players and the government to address housing deficits in Nigeria.
According to a Vanguard report, the investors and experts who converged at the West African Property Investment, WAPI summit, organised by African Property Investment, API, in Lagos, on Thursday gave a positive trend for real estate in the coming year.
Projects and City Reports Lead at Estate Intel, Mr. Oladapo Runsewe, who was one of the speakers, noted that 2024 was going to be a balanced year for the industry.
“I think in 2024, things might ease up a bit because if we look at the statistics from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, NBS, the real construction sector contribution to GDP actually increased in the last quarter. So, if we just continue on that positive path, I can foresee that we’re going to have a balanced positive effect on the market,” Runsewe said.
He projected that the real estate sector would be positive in 2023 and there’s nothing pointing to a negative market because construction must go on, development must go on regardless.
“People need houses to live, investors need real estate to invest in. So it’s going to be balanced,” he maintained.
However, Runsewe noted that, “There is a need for collaboration between construction industry participants and the government like the public and the private sector players collaborating to move the sector forward.
“I know there are plans for that happening but not as much on a very large scale as the demand needs right now. For example, if we look at Lagos, we have a very large housing deficit. So, the developers need something on a much larger scale for them to meet this demand by ensuring they make the right margins for their business.”
