Property buying: Same location, different values

In the property market, location and price are the hallmark of transactions and, as a matter of course, in most parts of the world, the value or price of similar properties within a given location are expected to fall within a close range, differing only by few millions or hundreds of thousands of naira or dollars.

In the Nigerian property market, this normal course of events is a different kettle of fish for many reasons, prominent among which are infrastructure and class consciousness.

BusinessDay survey on the Mile 2-Okokomaiko-Agbara axis shows that for some peculiar reasons, similar properties along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway have, in the past few years, attracted different values in the relatively same location.

The axis which hosts a number of settlements such as Festac Town, Satellite Town, Okokomaiko, Agbara, etc has remained relatively upbeat as homeowners move to position themselves for the on-going expansion of the expressway from its present four lanes to 10 lanes with a light rail track in-between as part of the Lagos city regeneration.

The survey also reveals a wide disparity in property prices on the axis as prices have remained significantly higher at some parts regarded as ‘highbrow’ areas when compared to other parts.

Festac Town, for instance, has become the Ikoyi of this axis such that within 3rd Avenue and 23 Road neighborhood, a plot of land measuring 1,200 square metres sells for between N45 million and N50 million, while at Festac Extension, along the Okota Link Road, a plot of land measuring 1,400 square metres facing the road sells for between N55 million and N65 million.

However, at Satellite town, a plot of land measuring 640 square metres in a gated estate sells for about N25 million, while a plot of land measuring about 670 square metres on Marwa Road sells for between N15 million and N20 million. At other swampy neighbourhoods, a plot of land sells for between N7 million and N10 million.

Further down the axis, from Okokomaiko, due to high migration into the town, empty plots of land are relatively scarce and thus properties are sold with already built structures. A plot of land with a storey building sells for around N40 million. At the hinterland, few available plots are valued between N5 million and N6 million per plot.

At new settlements such as Agbara – a town located between the border of Lagos and Ogun States – the market has remained relatively low for a number of reasons, one of which is lack of good access roads into some parts of the neighbourhoods. This brings down property prices as developers have continued to build access roads to their properties.

A plot of land within this area sells for between N500,000 and N750,000, while at some gated estates same size of property sells for between N650,000 and N1 million.

Among the factors responsible for the increase in price on some axis is the availability of choice apartments, leisure facilities, shopping centres and other infrastructure.

On a possible stability of property prices on the axis, Peter Mkpa, a property consultant, told our reporter that it would be difficult to actualise such feat in the near future due to a disparity in development status on the axis. “We can only see such possibility if infrastructure development starts cropping up at the other end of the axis such as gated estate developments, shopping malls and leisure centres,” he said.

By: ODINAKA MBONU