Consumer demand for short-let apartments, room nights rises
A recently conducted piece of research into an emerging player in the commercial real estate space indicates that the need for short-let apartments has maintained an upward trend in spite of the challenging economic environment.
This increased demand has spurred savvy business operators to accelerate their expansion plans in 2018 by seeking out strategically located residential buildings or vacant apartments in prime areas to be converted into short-let apartments to meet the flexible needs of people who require such accommodation.
Rethinking and re-ordering of priorities by multi-national corporations who now prefer to keep their expatriate workers in short-let apartments instead of full-scale residential accommodation is a major driver of this rising demand.
“One factor that has led to the increase in this sector is the upsurge in demand by corporates who would rather pay for short-let apartments for their expatriate staff as opposed to paying annual apartment rentals”, Erejuwa Gbadebo, CEO, International Real Estate Partners (IREP), confirmed.
Another major driver of this new trend is tourism, especially religious tourism which is growing in multiples in Nigeria with people looking for ‘miracle’ trooping into major cities, especially Lagos, on daily basis. The new trend, therefore, presents investment opportunity for real estate investors and developers.
The rental range for short-let apartments is wide and depends on the quality, branding, unit size and location of the offer. Rents can go as low as NGN 25,000.00 for a studio apartment to as high as NGN 140,000.00 per day for a 3-bed apartment.
“The commercial outlook for short-let apartments remains attractive in light of positive market fundamentals, expansion possibilities and strong levels of profitability. We believe this market presents unlimited opportunities and is a sector likely to spur increased investor interest,” Gbadebo posited.
At global level, the hospitality industry is said to be one of the world’s largest. A new report estimates the value of the industry to be in excess of $7.6 trillion in 2016 and is expected to reach $11.5 trillion by 2027. 32 percent of projects under development in Africa are in the Western countries, currently home to just 7 percent of the existing supply.
Most of these projects are in Nigeria, primarily in Lagos and Abuja, where projects spend longer in the pipeline phase than in most other African countries. The new report notes that the economic recovery in Nigeria saw the number of room nights sold in Lagos increase by 17.6 percent with the tourism sector contributing $2.2 billion to the state’s GDP in 2017.
Despite the security challenges in many quarters, hoteliers continue to consider Nigeria an important market for the West Africa region, seeing that supply remains grossly unrepresentative in comparison to population and perceived demand.
Across the nation, more infrastructure projects were awarded to Asians firms, increasing the number of Chinese consultants, workers and family members who need to shuttle between home and Nigeria. This also increased the demand for hotel accommodation, guesthouses and relaxation spots, creating investment opportunities for space providers.