Determinants of residential property time on the real estate market in Nigeria

Abstract

The real estate market consist of properties of various types (commercial, industrial, agricultural, recreational and residential) that are believed to have inflation hedging characteristics that make them ideal investment in the building industry. In the market, investment in residential property is not a liquid asset; its illiquidity is most often measured by the time the property spends on the market. The time on the market may be determined by variables such as physical attributes of the property and macroeconomic variables. The paper therefore examined the variables that explain the time bare land (for residential development) and residential property spends on the market before being sold in Akure, Nigeria. Using the Multiple Regression Model, the study finds Season Property was Listed for Sale, Distance to the Tarred Road and Asking Price to have influence on the time bare land was sold. For the residential properties, variables such as State of Repairs, State of Water Supply, Zone and Number of Convenience in a house were significant. The study therefore recommended that property developers should pay attention on these housing attributes that influence time on the market in order to enhance the marketability of their properties and thereby reduce the time property spends on the market.