ASSESSMENT OF THE HOUSING MARKET MATURITY IN ADO-EKITI, NIGERIA

Abstract

This research work assessed the extent of the housing market maturity in Ado Ekiti, Nigeria. It identified the housing characteristics in the housing market of the study area, examined the maturity features in the housing market in line with established features from literatures, analysed the extent of maturity of the housing market based on these features and examined the constraints to housing market full maturity in the study area. The target population for the study were the practicing Estate Surveying and Valuation firms in Ado-Ekiti; owners/occupants of residential properties in the three residential density namely, low, medium and high density areas as well as the directors of the Ekiti State Bureau of Lands and Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. The sampling frame of the occupants in the selected areas was derived through physical enumeration of the houses in the areas while that of Practicing Estate Surveying and Valuation firms was derived from the 2017 online directory of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors. The sample size of the occupants was derived by a means of sample size reduction formular by Yamane which resulted into 188, 224 and 299 occupants in the low, medium and high density areas. The total sampling frame of the practicing Estate firms of 10 was adopted as the sample size because of its sizeable number. Structured questionnaires were distributed to respondents while data retrieved were analysed using Descriptive Statistics, Weighted Mean Score, Kruskawalis Test and Factor Analysis. Findings revealed a large availability of different types of residential properties in the selected residential neighbourhoods. The study also revealed that the market features were based on nine evaluation criteria namely investment market; trade effectiveness; market flexibility; professional services; market actors activity; institutional professionalism; market information flow; scientific research flow; market transparency; market openness; property rights; competence and social responsibility. The results of the Kruskwalis test showed that all the examined features of housing market maturity in the area except Flexibility in market (0.101) and Social responsibility (.245) showed statistically significant differences in the opinion of the respondents in the three (3) selected residential neighbourhoods with p≤ 0.05. The results of the factor analysis on the extent of maturity of the market also showed a chi-square of 1703.994 which is significant at p<0.000 while 5 components were extracted at 7.518 Eigen value which generated a cumulative squared loadings f 62.468%. The study further showed that there are some somewhat significant differences in responses of the sampled groups regarding the constraints to housing market full maturity in Ado-Ekiti with a p value ≤ 0.05. The study therefore concluded that the contribution of the Government, its Agencies, Estate Surveyors and Valuers, Professionals, stakeholders and the general public is very important in the achievement of a stable and matured housing market.