THE INFLUENCE OF TENANTS’ PERSONALITY TRAITS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY INVESTMENT IN AKURE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Residential property investment has been a significant contributor to the overall performance of the real estate sector in the economy. However, it has been bewildered with non-lease performance due to the high rate of rental default despite tenant selection procedures adopted. This study assessed the influence of tenants’ personality traits on residential property lease performance in Akure. The study examined the characteristics of residential property investment types, investigated the rental growth rate for different residential property investments across the various population density zones between 2011 and 2020, and assessed the effectiveness of landlords/agents in providing expected services to tenants. The study further evaluated the contribution of residential property tenants’ personality traits to lease performance. It examined the relationship between residential property tenants’ socioeconomic characteristics and lease performance in the study area. The target populations for this study are registered Estate Surveying and Valuation firms in Akure and tenants in their management portfolio. The researcher gathered data with structured questionnaires administered on 25 registered Estate Surveying and Valuation firms and 338 tenants in the management portfolio of the Estate Surveying and Valuation firms. The data gathered by the researcher were analyzed with both descriptive (frequency distribution tables, bar charts, mean score, weighted mean score, and factor analysis) and inferential statistics (ANOVA, correlation, and logistic regression analysis). The result of the study revealed that tenants were not satisfied with the accommodation facilities, neighborhood quality, and infrastructures in Akure private rented sector. The study further revealed that the private rented sector performed decently in terms of the average rental growth rate of various residential property types. ANOVA revealed a significant difference in the mean rental values of residential property types at a p-value of ≤ 0.05 except for detached and semidetached residential property types. The study further revealed that tenants were not satisfied with majority of the services rendered by Estate Surveyors and Valuers, which could be a possible source of recalcitrance by tenants. Correlation analysis revealed a significant positive relationship between lease performance and personality traits such as extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness at p ≤ 0.05. Factor analysis of the contribution of personality traits constructs to lease performance of residential properties revealed that the happiness (27.331%) and humorous (51.49%) nature of the tenants contributed most to residential property lease performance. The logistic regression analysis revealed that socioeconomic characteristics such as gender, marital status, nature of employment have higher probability of influencing lease performance in the private rented sector. The study therefore recommends that investors, Estate Surveyors, and Valuers pay close attention to tenants’ personality traits and socio-economic characteristics in tenant selection in order to enhance residential property lease performance in the private rented sector.

Key Words: Influence, Lease Performance, Personality Traits, Residential Property, and Tenant