Construction industry experts have said that the lack of reliable data to support decision-making in Nigeria’s real estate and property industry has become must be urgently resolved to bridge the shelter gap.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday, they said availability and accessibility of accurate, reliable, and timely data is critical to the optimal operation and development of the Real Estate sector.
Mr Jide Odusoly, Managing Director of Octo5 Holdings Ltd. said that even figures on Nigeria housing defcit were not accurate.
“In July of this year, Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola had disputed the much-touted 17-million Housing deficit in Nigeria citing data inconsistency.
“The Minister said having consulted with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and some international organizations including the African Development Bank (AfDB) he had found nothing suggesting that Nigeria’s housing deficit figures are correct.
Fashola’s statement was met with criticism from the Nigerian real estate industry,” he said.
Odusolu said accessible real estate data was important for operations of developers, the public sector and real estate investors.
“We have seen the role technology is playing in making data about the real estate industry more accessible to potential homeowners.
“This is helping us make informed choices as we continue to provide solutions that position real estate investments as a means to create economic freedom for more Nigerians,” Odusolu said.
Also, Mr John Sunday, Head of Business Development at Dutum, a construction Company in Nigeria said that only availability of data could resolve the dispute for stakeholders in the property market to make better decisions.
Sunday added that price data are not the only statistics required for a comprehensive analysis of the housing market but other indices.
He listed the factors to include ratio of rented, owner-occupied houses, number and value of transactions, statistics on building permits/approvals and market dynamics and as well as drivers of supply and demand.
The Managing Director, Dutum Company Ltd, Mr Temitope Runsewe said detailed, accessible, and transparent property system will go beyond generating accurate records to enhance the nation’s productivity.
He enumerated the benefits of the macroeconomic impact of accurate and accessible real estate data.
“Real Estate data access enhances productivity and enables decision makers to be informed rapidly and at low cost, affords access to a wide range of insight and improves efficiency while significantly reducing the cost of goods and services,” he said.
The experts advised that data can be sourced from the National Bureau of Statistics, relevant Ministries and agencies, Mortgage firms, financial institutions, land registries, real estate firms, research firms, news platforms among others.
Other sources of Real Estate data, according to the experts, may include in-house data, building society surveys, market reports, auction results and information published by the press.
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They however suggested that combining data from multiple sources would increase the reliability of data instead of relying on single sources and believe real estate industry stakeholders should leverage technology to improve data accessibility.
Accessible, reliable data key to Nigeria’s real estate development – Experts
