Real Estate Data: Nigeria cannot build a modern property market without reliable information by ESV Ojedele-Oluga Elizabeth Oluwakemi

12

One of the greatest challenges confronting Nigeria’s real estate sector is not simply a shortage of properties. It is the shortage of accessible, reliable, standardised and verifiable property market information.

How much does a three-bedroom apartment actually rent for in a particular neighbourhood?

What is the average selling price of comparable properties?

What rental yields are investors achieving?

How quickly are properties being sold or leased?

How much does commercial space command in different locations?

In a mature property market, these questions should have reasonably clear answers.

Unfortunately, property transactions in Nigeria are often fragmented. Asking prices are sometimes mistaken for actual transaction prices, while private negotiations and limited disclosure can make reliable market evidence difficult to obtain.

This creates uncertainty across the entire property market.

Buyers may overpay. Sellers may underprice their assets. Investors may miscalculate expected returns. Lenders may face difficulties in assessing the true value of collateral, while government agencies may struggle to establish appropriate benchmarks for taxation, compensation and infrastructure-related acquisitions.

THE IMPORTANCE OF RELIABLE PROPERTY DATA

Reliable market information is essential for a properly functioning real estate sector.

When investors have access to credible data, they can compare locations, assess investment opportunities, estimate rental yields and make better-informed decisions.

Property owners can understand prevailing market conditions and set more realistic asking prices.

Financial institutions can make more informed lending decisions.

Government can develop better housing and urban development policies.

And professional valuers can produce more accurate and defensible valuations.

The absence of reliable data, therefore, affects far more than individual property transactions. It affects the efficiency and transparency of the entire real estate market.

THE ROLE OF ESTATE SURVEYORS AND VALUERS

The Estate Surveying and Valuation profession is uniquely positioned to contribute to solving this challenge.

Professional Estate Surveyors and Valuers regularly encounter transactions involving land, residential properties, offices, retail facilities, industrial properties, hotels and other specialised assets.

Through the systematic collection, verification and analysis of transaction evidence, the profession can contribute significantly to the development of stronger property market databases.

Rather than relying primarily on anecdotal evidence or advertised asking prices, market participants should have access to properly analysed information based on actual transactions and credible market evidence.

TECHNOLOGY CAN CHANGE THE GAME

Technology provides an enormous opportunity to transform the way property information is collected, stored and analysed.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS), digital property registers, online property databases, automated valuation tools and data analytics can improve the speed, coverage and efficiency of real estate market analysis.

Digital platforms can also make it easier to monitor rental trends, sales activity, development patterns and changes in property values across different locations.

However, technology alone is not enough.

DATA MUST BE VERIFIED

A database filled with inaccurate asking prices is not necessarily a useful database.

Property data must be properly collected, verified, classified, analysed and interpreted.

There is a fundamental difference between what a property owner wants to receive and what a property ultimately sells or rents for.

Professional judgement therefore remains essential.

Estate Surveyors and Valuers can play a critical role in ensuring that market information is not simply collected but properly interpreted within the context of location, property type, condition, use, demand, supply and prevailing economic conditions.

BUILDING A NATIONAL PROPERTY DATA INFRASTRUCTURE

There is a major opportunity for professional institutions, government agencies, financial institutions, technology companies and real estate practitioners to collaborate in developing robust Nigerian real estate data infrastructure.

Such collaboration could help create standardised systems for recording property transactions, rental evidence, development costs, yields, vacancy rates and other relevant market indicators.

A stronger property information system would also support urban planning and land administration while improving transparency for investors.

Over time, reliable data could help reduce speculation, improve market confidence and make Nigeria’s property sector more attractive to both domestic and international investors.

EVERYONE BENEFITS FROM BETTER INFORMATION

Reliable property information would benefit virtually every participant in the real estate ecosystem.

For buyers, it can reduce the risk of overpaying.

For sellers, it can provide a more realistic basis for pricing.

For investors, it can improve investment analysis and risk assessment.

For lenders, it can strengthen collateral valuation and credit decisions.

For government, it can support taxation, compensation, housing policy and infrastructure planning.

For professionals, it can improve the quality and credibility of valuation and consultancy services.

The benefits extend beyond individual transactions.

Better property data can help policymakers understand where housing demand is increasing, where infrastructure investment is needed and how urban areas are evolving.

THE WAY FORWARD

Nigeria’s real estate sector has enormous economic potential, but markets function more efficiently when participants have access to good information.

The country does not only need more houses, offices, shopping centres and industrial properties.

It also needs better knowledge about those properties.

Reliable real estate data should therefore be treated as a form of critical economic infrastructure.

If Nigeria wants a more transparent, efficient and investment-friendly property market, it must move towards a system where property decisions are increasingly based on credible evidence rather than speculation, hearsay and advertised asking prices.

The future of Nigeria’s real estate market will not be built on bricks and mortar alone. It will also be built on reliable data, professional expertise and informed decision-making.

ESV Ojedele-Oluga Elizabeth Oluwakemi – M3406