Impact Of Online Marketing On Real Estate

The Nigerian real estate market has achieved greater development since the emergence of online real estate sites in the late 2000s. The market has grown more in states experiencing a high rate of urbanisation. With the country’s 4.3% increase in yearly urbanisation concentrated in only a few states of the country, it is not surprising that the majority of Nigerian states still have a long way to go in terms of real estate activity.

Attention has been narrowed down to the most performing areas on the Nigerian real estate scene with major focus placed on selected areas in Lagos and Abuja, including certain areas in Ogun state, Port Harcourt & Ibadan.

Lagos is the most active state on the Nigerian real estate scene. But attention has been drawn to FCT “Abuja” as a result of expansion and development also maintains the most listings and leads across all major online real estate platforms. As noted, this is largely due to the high level of urbanisation in the state. Initially, Maitama, Asokoro were the leading area in Abuja. But development has grown massively to different parts of Abuja like Lugbe, Gusape, Gwagwalada even Zuba with recent Federal Housing Authority. Rental prices followed the same trend with apartments and houses.

In Lagos, Ikoyi, Ibeju-Lekki as an emerging area in Lagos. Property here is still relatively affordable compared to neighbouring areas with an average plot of land going for ₦3,500,000. Investors, companies and private home seeking individuals have developed a keen interest in the area, which will become a self-sustaining ecosystem due to the ongoing and proposed developments in the area.

Abuja is the second most active area on the real estate scene but is still way behind in real estate activity compared to Lagos. The city is, however, experiencing major growth in affordable areas such as Lugbe. This is a notable shift as major developments in the past have been in the Central Business District as well as other high brow and upper-middle-class areas. Land in Lugbe can be found for as low as ₦6,450,000 per plot. Land in Gwagwalada was the cheapest of the areas considered in this study going for ₦3,350,000 per plot; this may be due to the fact that the area is situated on the outskirts of the Abuja and developments here are relatively slower than other areas closer to the heart of the city. Maitama had the highest prices listed online with the average cost of a 4-5 bedroom house going for ₦385,750,000, which was the highest of all the areas within and outside Abuja considered in this report. In terms of costliness, Maitama was closely followed by other areas in the Central Business District. Kuje held the cheapest apartments for rent with the average 1-3 bedroom apartment going for ₦306,000 per year. Apart from 1 bedroom apartments, data for Kuje and Gwagwalada was largely unavailable online. Our reports compiled for Asokoro also revealed property sales are more favourable.

Commercial Office Spaces

Lagos and Abuja

The commercial scene in Lagos saw a lot of business owners moving from grade B buildings to grade A property especially in Ikoyi and Victoria Island. This was mainly because of the concessions made on rentals by landlords and owners of these buildings to remain competitive and attract tenants. Some of these concessions came in the form of lower rents and fit-out allowances. Although these prices were still on the high side, these concessions generally contributed to the affordability of the high level property.