The real estate industry in Nigeria has come of age albeit it still struggles for a strong foothold. This article talks on how the real estate industry in Nigeria is being overlooked despite its immense potentials.

Real Estate connotes an entity consisting of land and buildings on it in which resides some value of economic worth. In other words, it is an item of real property, that is, buildings or housing in general.

Real Estate is further categorized according to usage ranging from residential, commercial or industrial. In this article we will dwell only on residential property or housing and dovetail the discussion into housing and mortgage finance- which has been ignored for too long and the scarcity of which continues to undermine the development of the real estate sector.

It is a well-known fact that in the light of economic challenges, creating the thrust to propel the Nigerian economy to its potential heights and compete effectively with other advanced economies can only be effectively done with the engagement of the Nigerian Housing and Real Estate Sectors. The evolution and historical growth of the economies of developed nations has given the fact to this assertion

The Real Estate Industry in Nigeria is as interesting as it is challenging. Interesting because of the immense and boundless socioeconomic potentials locked up in the sector but equally, it is challenging for the onerous tasks required to effectively unlock, release and exploit the huge economic potentials of the Nigerian Housing Sector.

The story of Real Estate Development particularly housing provision in Nigeria has been painfully uninspiring. From independence, the initiatives of Nigeria’s successive administrations towards bridging the wide and ever growing gap between housing demand and available supply have been predominantly through direct interventions.

These interventions were mainly in the form of budgetary allocations to the housing sector and direct housing construction. However, the inefficacy of these strategies are all too evident today, considering the fact that government’s self-imposed targets remained grossly under-achieved while housing demand continues to expand exponentially.

The reason for this failure can be located in the continued neglect of one critical factor: Housing and Mortgage Finance. Due to the paucity of long-term loan-able funds for housing development, the Nigerian economy has yet to reap from the potentials embedded in its real estate sector.

It must be noted that well over 90% of houses currently existing were constructed through unstructured self-help. The fact that finance is central to an effective housing delivery system in any economy cannot be over-emphasized.

Thus, to witness a revolutionary change in the current housing situation, an effective housing development and mortgage finance delivery mechanism must be put in place

There is no denying the fact that real estate development can be a viable platform for the positive transformation of the Nigerian economy.

Accordingly, Government must deliberately promote and encourage the development of the sector, only then will the Real Estate Industry in Nigeria attain greater heights

Source:Nigeriarealestatehub