Accra from the sky at night. Shot by Aero Shutter

This post originally appeared on Siro360 on September 26, 2018 and was written by Gerd Seyfert.

All talks of real estate in Ghana have been centred on pricing which most people claim is outrageous and is contributing to the housing deficit woes.

In a way, this article is going to thread along similar lines. So, even though, I want to talk about the future of real estate in Ghana, the most crucial thing about that will be profit. In doing this, I will look at a few issues like the target market and how to make the most out of it.

In the prime areas, office spaces go for $30-45 per square meter and the average price for a 2 bedroom apartment rental is $2500 monthly. If it’s for sale we are looking at an average of $300,000 outright—all these with or without maintenance charges.

Comparatively, these prices are higher than in most African countries and even in some countries in the West. This is what causes the befuddling, where people fail to understand how our housing pricing unit should exceed that of some western countries.

People have called for some sort of legislature to introduce price ceilings of some sorts but this does not look like it will happen anytime soon.

My basic economics makes me understand that it is the demand that raises prices. When demand exceeds supply, there would be a shortage and consumers would have little choice but to pay a higher price for the commodity. The way the projections have been given, the demand for real estate anywhere and everywhere is not going to plateau but rather rise.

From the Ghana Property Investment Network (GPIN) blog, the reported 1.7 million deficits in housing coupled with the current age distribution provide an opportunity for ‘real estaters’ to utilize.

Those who deal with prime areas like Clifton Homes and Swami India Ghana Limited usually have a well-defined and secure market target.

Moving outside of the prime areas like Airport Residential, Cantonments, and East Legon—just to name a few—the real estate bandwagon looks to be headed towards major regional centres with high trade and retail activity. Such areas are characteristic of attracting banks and malls and since this is an indicator of a good spending middle-class, it’s only a matter of time that the focus of real estate in Ghana moves to these areas.

“The future for further retail investment lies in Regional Centres,” commented Jonathan Lötter, Broll Ghana’s Head of Retail Management. This is to say that when it comes to land and acquisition and development the next place to look at is the regional centres because our prices can now be afforded.

The important question for me, however, is the ‘how’ and ‘who’ involved in the moving. High rise buildings are not quite popular in some of these areas because of a whole host of factors which includes not fitting into the town well in terms of environmental aesthetics or because of the cost of its accompanying interior décor and whatnots.

Modernity is catching up with everybody real fast. People are acquiring all sorts of taste, comfort and plushness and with shelter and homes, it is no exception.

The market is not changing much only that it is getting bigger but there might not be evidence of what these new consumers might want in housing. Agencies that can leverage technology and small research into alternate affordable ways of building and providing homes to cater for the specificity of the taste of the consumer might just come on top.

In an interview with Jumia House Ghana, Peter Tsikata says that “Real Estate is the backbone of U.S. economy and that is how it’s going to be for Ghana in a few years.”

There is this notion captured in popular local parlance that real wealth is in lies in having land.

Giving the capital and the brain, real estate in Ghana can be highly developed to solve the housing deficit, to provide jobs and to play its part in making the economy great.

I'm Kadi Tay and I write about different things, real estate is one of them. The plan is to make real estate info fun by kicking out Mr. corporate stiff. So don't be surprised if you see a Kwesi Arthur reference somewhere. I promise it'll make sense. When I'm not working magic here, you'll find me talking geek stuff in Africa, travelling with my buds, highlighting young people killing it, talking about life and adulting, or doingrandom things.

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