The Head of Practice, Mustapha Ewenla and Partners, Mustapha Ewenla has described the Nigerian real estate industry as vibrant with transformative potential for economic growth, job creation and social development. He said that if the industry is properly harnessed through reforms, investment, and technology, it could become the cornerstone of national progress.
Ewenla spoke at a Real Estate Conference and Awards forum organised by PropertyPlus Magazine in Lagos. Speaking on the theme: ‘The untapped gold mine in Nigeria — opportunities, challenges and strategic interventions’, he explained that the demand for housing and commercial property outpaces supply, creating opportunities for developers, investors, agents, policymakers, and other stakeholders.
Besides the rising demand for affordable housing in urban centres, commercial & retail spaces driven by a growing middle class, special economic zones and logistics hubs, he stressed that there are opportunities in digital solutions for property management, investment, and transactions, adding Nigerians abroad represent a key funding source if transparency is ensured.
According to him, the benefits of investing in the sector include steady increase in value, especially in cities like Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt, long-term and short-term rentals offering stable income. The reality that real estate typically appreciates with inflation and the vast housing deficit presents a market for new developments.
However, he noted that despite its potential, several issues hinder real estate development. These, he said include low-income levels and poor mortgage access, bureaucratic bottlenecks in land title acquisition and building approvals, multiple overlapping government agencies with paper-based processes, poor infrastructure, high construction costs, legal uncertainty, and inconsistent policies, Land Use Act limitations, poor land registry systems, and high interest loans.
“Real estate remains underexploited in Nigeria. Overdependence on crude oil hampers broader economic development. The housing deficit estimated at 21 million units or more shows unmet needs. Rapid urbanisation and population growth demand immediate action. Emerging investment trends include student housing, care homes, co-living/co-working spaces, digital real estate, logistics warehouses, retail centres, crowd-funding and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs),” he stated.
He further listed the roadmap to unlocking real estate potential to include reform in the Land Use Act to encourage ownership and security of tenure, improve land registration process, and infrastructure development; access to finance is key and promotion of Public-Private Partnerships for infrastructure and housing.
Others, he said, are the need for a clear and focused national housing strategy; encouraging digitisation of land and housing processes and integration of eco-conscious solutions in building designs.
Chief Executive Officer of Propertyplus, Sabastine Onyewe, highlighted the need for practitioners to become a part of government plans to provide affordable housing for Nigerians.
Onyewe said: “Real estate developers and other critical stakeholders are challenged to seize the opportunity in the sector to address the yawning housing gaps. We cannot shy away from the fact that this gap exists. The private practitioners and government institutions should come up with plans and strategies to reap the benefits that beckon on every stakeholder in the sector,” he said.
