Bridging the gap between profit and people in Nigeria’s real estate

Taking a cue from Nigeria’s mega cities (Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt), real estate is not just about land or luxury; it is a mirror of the nation’s deep economic divide. The cities’ skyline tells two stories – one of ambition, glass towers, and billionaire estates; the other of hard-working tenants whose dream of home ownership slips further away each year.

In Lagos, for instance, from Ikoyi’s waterfront apartments to the expanding estates of Ibeju-Lekki, property remains the most visible symbol of power and success in Nigeria’s commercial capital. Yet, behind the glitter lies a troubling paradox. While developers chase dollar-linked returns, millions of residents can hardly afford rent, let alone buy a home.

According to Knight Frank’s Lagos Market Update 2025, the price of a two-bedroom apartment in Ikoyi now averages N105 million, while similar units in Lekki or Victoria Island cost between N70 million and N90 million. In a city where most middle-income professionals earn between N800,000 and N1.5 million monthly, these figures translate to decades of savings.

Q: “The lack of effective property regulation and consumer protection deepens inequality … Weak oversight also allows speculative investors to inflate prices without any obligation to make properties liveable or accessible.”

This widening affordability gap has forced many renters to migrate further from the city’s core, seeking relative relief in places like Ajah, Sangotedo, or the Lekki-Ajah corridor. But even there, rising land prices and unregulated rent increases are quickly eroding what little breathing space remains.

For tenants, the situation is grim. Rent in mid-tier neighbourhoods now ranges from N3 million to N6 million yearly for two-bedroom flats, often payable upfront for one or two years. The system favours landlords with financial leverage, leaving tenants under pressure, sometimes forced to borrow to renew leases or relocate to less desirable areas.

The imbalance in these cities’ housing markets becomes clearer when you look at who is actually buying. According to data from Estate Intel, only about 10 percent of property buyers in prime Lagos neighbourhoods are local salaried professionals or small business owners. The rest belong to three dominant groups – diaspora investors, politically connected individuals, and speculative buyers with access to informal capital.

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A 2025 Digital Landlord survey found that as much as 30 percent of diaspora remittances, which hit $600 million this year, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), end up in real estate. This inflow, while beneficial for investment, has had an unintended effect: pushing prices far beyond the reach of ordinary Nigerians.

Many of these buyers never occupy the homes they purchase. Developers confirm that a growing number of luxury apartments are sold before completion to investors who simply lock them up, waiting for resale opportunities. What emerges is a distorted market, sustained not by real demand, but by speculation and capital flight protection.

Part of these cities’ housing crisis lies in their poorly regulated property ecosystem. Developers routinely quote property prices in dollars, tying housing costs to foreign exchange (FX) volatility rather than domestic income realities. As the naira fluctuates, property prices rise in tandem, even when local purchasing power stagnates.

The lack of effective property regulation and consumer protection deepens inequality. Land registration remains cumbersome and opaque, creating room for fraud, double sales, and untraceable ownership. Weak oversight also allows speculative investors to inflate prices without any obligation to make properties liveable or accessible.

Meanwhile, while these states’ governments have made efforts to digitise land administration and promote mortgage access, progress has been slow. The CBN’s proposal to ‘unlock dormant assets’ in real estate remains largely on paper, with little clarity on how it would translate into fairer pricing or affordable mortgages.

For these cities’ growing middle class, renting has become a treadmill, expensive, unstable, and often exploitative. In the Lagos instance, the majority of tenants now spend between 35 and 50 percent of their income on housing, far above the United Nations’ recommended threshold of 30 percent.

High mortgage rates, often exceeding 18 percent, shut most people out of home financing altogether. Those who try to buy often face inflated valuations and hidden costs, while tenants face arbitrary rent hikes and minimal legal protection.

A 31-year-old software engineer captured the frustration succinctly: “I’ve been saving for five years, but every year the prices rise faster than my salary. Home ownership feels like a race I was never allowed to join.”

The ideal housing market should reflect productivity, not privilege. It should empower citizens who contribute to the city’s economy, teachers, engineers, civil servants, entrepreneurs, to own homes or rent affordably without financial distress.

For these cities, they cannot afford to build themselves into exclusivity. The long-term health of their real estate market depends on inclusion, on policies that make housing attainable for workers who keep the cities running. If unchecked, the current imbalance risks creating a city of empty luxury apartments surrounded by sprawling informal settlements.

Urban prosperity must not be defined by glass towers but by liveable spaces where people can work, rest, and raise families. The way forward is clear: regulate fairly, finance inclusively, and build sustainably.

For Lagos, especially, if it can achieve that balance, it will not just remain Nigeria’s economic capital, it will become its first truly inclusive city, where hard work, not privilege, still buys a home.

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