There is an issue which has been bugging me for a while and i just can't find answer an answer to it.Why are Nigerian properties so expensive as compared to other countries? I mean i have seen properties in Nigeria which cost an arm and a leg even though the quality of the construction and finishing is very poor when compared to houses in other countries with superior construction quality and finishing. Allow me to show you a one example :

(A) Below is a house selling for N680,000,000 in Ikoyi

http://www.privateproperty.com.ng/ogun-street-ikoyi-osborne-phase-1-p3206.htm







If you convert N680,000,0000 to South African currency that will give you R42,467,013.Now below is a house in
South Africa for just R17,000,000.The SA house below cost less than half the price of the Nigerian one even though
,it has superior build ,superior finishing,24 hours electricity,underground electrical wiring ,24hrs pipe borne
water,tarred roads and is bigger than the Nigerian house.Can someone tell me why this is ?

(B)For clarity the South African house below costs N272,685,462.18

http://www.privateproperty.co.za/meyersdal-m47484.htm







What is notably sad is that the interior of the Nigerian house looks so inferior when compared to the interior of the SA house which is visibly superior in all ways.The Nigerian house features 4 bedroom and 4 bathrooms while the south African house features 6 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms.There is just no comparison ,the SA house is superior .Why then is the Nigerian house costing more than double the South African house? What is the explanation for this ? Can anyone shed light on why this is so as it really baffles me that this is what is going on in Nigeria.

Could it be as a result of greed in the Nigerian property industry? It make absolutely no sense to me.

Why is this look to you like rocket sciences, in the real world demand and supply determine the cost. In our country Nigeria demand by thief's that determine the cost. It's even worst after September 11 when the west restrain in flow of the money that came to their bank for
Fear it could be from terrorist. With no were to sipped money they result in paying most of this worth less properties@ those prices. I can honestly tell you that house in Nigeria are more expensive then in US, why because majority of our citizens are competing with pen robbers that have being robbing our Country in the last 40 years. I was reading in castle on Monday that only about 10-15 percent of our populace make's 5 million a year about $32k, just little above USA minimum income yet they're building houses or buying lands of 200 millions imagine that. At end people will say God save Nigeria. Well we're the People that can save our country by our self, if only we can build strong institution and start putting those pen robbers in jail for 40 -50 years for stealing 1000 Naira to set an example to others. God bless our county with a lot of it good people around the world that contribute in positive way .

I share the same view with you, I am a real estate broker in Chicago, I have attached the picture of a house that is presently listed for $200,000(asking) it has 5bed, 4 bathroom, and other amenities, there is a local fire station within reach, local public library, local hospital, world class mall, and its 40 minutes drive from downtown ( central) Chicago

I know location is the key in determining real estate prices but the truth is that real estate is overpriced in Nigeria considering the facilities that are available to you, there is no proper appraisal system you can decide to sell your property at any price, and anybody with some lose cash will just pay for it

yes indeed real estate is presently overpriced in Nigeria!

That amount $200,000 can hardly buy half a plot land at Omole Estate, Ikeja, Lagos. It's crazy! We need a governemnt that's free of corruption that will take ineventory of houses in Nigeria and their owners vis-a-vis their source of income. Pliticians, Yahoo! Yahoo boys!, ritualists, religion leaders, robbers are the ones driving prices to high heavens. All of them invest most of their stolen wealth on property.

This is wiered and nobody seems to be doing anything about it.

Nigeria is a sham!

your comparison are wrong. You said properties in Nigeria are expensive, yet only Lagos was used as reference, what about
other part of the country.

Nigeria is a very rich Nation yet you have only few places like Ikoyi, Lekki, Maitama, Asokoro, Banana Island etc available with some descent neighbourhood.

So, everybody wants to live there unlike South Africa and Chicago etc. right

That is why I commend people like Donald Duke of Cross River State, Akpabio of Akwa Ibom state for what they have done and doing respectively.

If Federal Government start to establish International airports and Sea ports in these places then some of these prices will start diasappearing.

For now, those are all we have for the rich 10% of 170 million Nigerians and even wealthy foreigners who love Nigeria and want to stay.

olubuffett: your comparison are wrong. You said properties in Nigeria are expensive, yet only Lagos was used as reference, what about
other part of the country.

I did not compare other parts of Nigeria because the infrastructure there is even worse off.Many properties do not have access to good roads ,yet they cost ridiculous amounts of money. Abuja and Lagos are the only cities in Nigeria that boast 10% of manageable road networks in the country.I own a few properties in South Africa but i don't own a single property in Nigeria because i don't feel the properties are worth what they are asking.

gtrust: Nigeria is a very rich Nation yet you have only few places like Ikoyi, Lekki, Maitama, Asokoro, Banana Island etc available with some descent neighbourhood.

So, everybody wants to live there unlike South Africa and Chicago etc. right

That is why I commend people like Donald Duke of Cross River State, Akpabio of Akwa Ibom state for what they have done and doing respectively.

If Federal Government start to establish International airports and Sea ports in these places then some of these prices will start diasappearing.

For now, those are all we have for the rich 10% of 170 million Nigerians and even wealthy foreigners who love Nigeria and want to stay.

That is my problem exactly ,the Nigerian property industry only caters for the rich.Even so called low cost housing cost millions.Why is the federal and state Governments not building affordable homes for the masses but are instead building overpriced flats which are not even worth the cement they used to build it? We have heartless leaders as well as heartless citizens who take pleasure in forcing their "greed" motivated prices on others.

AT OLUBUFFETT, YOU HAVE MADE A VERY GOOD POINT BY SAYING THAT WE ONLY COMPARED LAGOS, LIKE SOMEONE RIGHTLY SAID, LAGOS AND ABUJA ARE THE MAJOR CITIES YOU CAN "TRY" TO COMPARE TO PLACES LIKE, CHICAGO OR SAY NEW YORK IN TERMS OF BUSINESS ACTIVITIES AND HUMAN TRAFFIC , AM ORIGINALLY FROM IBADAN AND AM SORRY TO SAY THERE IS NO WHERE IN IBADAN THAT YOU CAN COMPARE WITH MAJOR COMMERCIAL CITIES INTERNATIONALLY, EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE SOME PLACES LIKE ALALUBOSA ESTATE THAT ARE RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE TOO, CONSIDERING THE FACILITIES AVAILABLE

because we are eternal hopers, always hoping that the impossible will become possible so we put impossible prices on properties. Sometimes we get lucky and sometimes the property remains unsold and unoccupied for years.

You have spoken very well @ EmperorOlu but yet you have forgotten to acknowledge the fact that buying houses in South Africa and other highly developed cities around the world has got more to do with Government consent and Tax when trying to purchase such properties, and most especially when you start paying huge sums as Tax to the government for your personally owned property yearly...Now another aspect i would like to remind you of is, ...what is the RENTAL difference between these developed cities and Nigeria...if you will at least try to be truthful you will admit that Nigeria has cheaper Rentals compared to those places you just mentioned...I currently live in JHB...and i know how much i am paying monthly for a self contain cottage here in JHB...my 3months rent here in JHB will give me a better and bigger apartment for 1year in Nigeria...so before you make comparison consider the Taxes and some other factors.

@all I have a simple solution to those ridiculous prices, if only we have the right government in place. What was my solution idea TAX THOSE houses to roof. What do I mean to the roof, make them pay tax per square feet of the sizes of the houses, my ideal of the amounts they should pay 10,000 naira per square feet, per the amount of money they steal. After that use the money to build mass housing for poor as we are all Nigerians, we deserved better living condition. Then enforce the law. I bet in no time those prices will come down like rain, after that we set up an appraising system to value houses at set amount value for it location problem solved.

@eddiebruk, thanks for you analyzing your observation. I can tell you better from the west, you could being living the same house were you will being paying $1,300 a month rent when your next door neighbor could being paying $400 a month. Why because the system was back with strong law which in called equal housing. This is a federal law that base your income percentage as your monthly rent.
Why can't we do the same. Another example of how the west run their Government, most of highway where repair or re build with petrol tax you pay every time buy gas at gas station. Our government don't have to be spending this Billions on road every year,. We could cut all those OGas at the top salary in to half to repair our schools, also cut those Governs security vote 60 percent to be used for maintenance of our hospital etc, etc.

kopell:
@all I have a simple solution to those ridiculous prices, if only we have the right government in place. What was my solution idea TAX THOSE houses to roof. What do I mean to the roof, make them pay tax per square feet of the sizes of the houses, my ideal of the amounts they should pay 10,000 naira per square feet, per the amount of money they steal. After that use the money to build mass housing for poor as we are all Nigerians, we deserved better living condition. Then enforce the law. I bet in no time those prices will come down like rain, after that we set up an appraising system to value houses at set amount value for it location problem solved.

There's Land Use Charge and LASG is actively enforcing it now.

It us a shame that in Nigeria the cost of duplex are runing to million abd the govt dobt xare fir the wellbeign of it citizen when civil servant are begging for an increase. in salary #30,000per month while our corrupt leaders are busy buying property every part of the world shameful country

Everything is more expensive in Nigeria for no justifiable reason, Nigeria have the highest car prices in West Africa. The house prices are worse because housing is is the most preferred means of hiding stolen money within or outside Nigeria, especially in high brow areas where the rich buy bragging rights in form of houses. I believe that with time prices would crash, they have already crashed a lot since the recession but they still need to crash more.