Experts projected that the Dangote refinery would spur the growth of real estate along the Lekki-Epe area of Lagos State.
The Chief Executive Officer of UACN Property Development Company Plc, Odunayo Ojo, said this in a chat with our correspondent.
Ojo said, “It will have a net positive impact. That is a massive infrastructure. The first thing that is going to happen is that it is going to create an ecosystem of demand. Thousands of workers are going to be working there directly, and hundreds of thousands of workers are going to be working there indirectly.
“Someone is going to provide food, uniforms, transportation, security, and cleaning services. Someone is going to provide housing for the people who are going to be working there. There is going to be a multiplier effect. It is going to be a huge driver.
“That is why you have economies all over the world clamouring for companies to come and set up in their countries. I am surprised that many states in the country did not clamour for Dangote to set up in their states, and give him free land, and incentives because one way or the other, it will crystalise. If he is in a Free Zone and it does not pay taxes, the people working there will pay, and the person selling water will have to pay. That is the first thing, economies of scale.”
In the same vein, the Treasurer of the Nigerian Institute of Building, Philips Ayotunde, said the impact of the Dangote refinery would be great, adding that the construction of the refinery had opened up the entire Epe-Ajah axis.
He said, “We need more of such development that will be a catalyst to real estate development in Nigeria.
“Everyone in that area is about to reach a level of prosperity because economic activities will be driven to that area. Land value in that area is going to appreciate.”
He added that structurally, the economic nodes in Lagos would be expanded from Victoria Island and Ikeja to now include the Epe-Ibeju area.
“There is going to be a third node that is going to make sure the city is decentralised. The Epe-Ibeju node is about to really come alive. I believe the effect of the project is a net positive.”
According to Ojo, there are some unintended consequences of traffic management and even environmental ones, which he claimed could be addressed on a case-by-case basis.
“However, net impact, this country needs facilities like that, even more of things like that,” he continued.
Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of the Association of Housing Corporations of Nigeria, Toye Eniola, said the impact would be felt if only the operation reduced or eliminated the importation of refined oil, which will help to conserve foreign exchange used for importation and in turn stabilise the country’s forex market.
According to him, this would reduce pressure on the scarcity of dollars.
He added, “If this is achieved, it will drive down inflation and interest rates which will impact positively on the real estate sector. Naturally, this is what is expected to happen. However, in Nigeria, anything can happen and if the Nigeria factor sets in, we may continue to experience what is currently happening in the sector.”
TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
