The real estate market is a segment of the industry which is constantly striving to meet the demands of the market, both in relation to the preferences of the clients as well as the requirement for a suitable number of living spaces. Housing, which is the basic need of all, is not easily met due to the shortage of appropriate units along with the most pressing problem of a lack in acquiring mortgage finance.

The real estate market in Nigeria demonstrates a wide gap between the need for adequate residential spaces, and the availability of the housing units which can best meet with the needs of the population.

Real Estate Market In Nigeria

The state of the real estate market in Nigeria is a singular one, because though it is a large economy which boasts of an impressive GDP of $510 million, housing and construction occupies a small portion of the total GDP.

Only around 3.1% of the housing and construction sector accounts a portion in the total rebased GDP, which is a great setback for the federal constitutional republic. Nigeria, being a country having a population of around 170 million, only about 100,000 unit houses are produced per year. This results in a shortfall of about 700,000 units, which are needed each year to meet the housing needs of a growing population. As per estimation, annually there is an accumulated housing deficit calculated in the quantity of 17 million units!

Adding to the facts, is another serious element which involves the growing demand for houses in major urban centers of the country, like Laos, Ibadan, Abuja and Kano. The population in these areas has demonstrated a demand of around 20% per annum for suitable housing units which can meet with their increasing residential requirements.

These huge gaps between the need for housing spaces and the availability of suitable units in Nigeria, requires immediate planned action. One of the major contributing factors to the huge gap in the need for housing units is lack of easy access to housing mortgage and finance.  Due to limited access to housing finance, most people in Nigeria have to opt for the option of making housing payments from their personal savings. As house financing requires a substantial sum of money, personal savings prove inadequate as a source of financing the need for a suitable housing unit in Nigeria.

NMRC’s Initiative For Aiding Mortgage Refinance

Owing to the pressing need for providing the population with a source of an easy access to mortgage and finance options, the Federal Government has offered an attractive scheme of around 10,000 mortgages for meeting the gap in the demand and the supply.

The Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Corporation (NMRC) has taken this huge step to facilitate the efforts of many for easy and affordable and housing delivery, as well as suitable home ownership in Nigeria.

The initially launched 10,000 mortgages are just the first batch of the 200,000 mortgages, which is the target of the NMRC scheme formulated by the Federal Government. The authorities have specified their aims to provide a medley of housing units of various types, which are affordable as well as promise good quality residence spaces with excellent standards. The aim of the federal authorities endeavor and efforts in providing a 10,000 mortgage finance, with the promise of a total of 200,000, is to ensure the provision of housing units located in viable and aesthetic communities. These communities and units also need to have the requisite infrastructure and services preferred by the population.

The stance of the federal authorities regarding the housing finance scheme revolves around the main idea that as prequalification for the mortgages is the critical step to home ownership, an urgent need to provide the interested people with an easy means to lay hands on affordable houses is crucial. The current and future endeavors of the Nigerian authorities have achieved success in some quarters, while they have a plan for future promising efforts to facilitate the interested Nigerian community, realize their dreams of a comfortable and affordable housing unit.

Easy access to housing finance is the key to comfortable living in a country where there is a huge gap between the demand and the supply for housing units.