A selection of tech news from Nigeria and Africa at large.
South Africa Property Trends 2023 | Technology Rescaling Nigeria Real Estate | Real Estate Data | Proptech Startup Buyletlive Digi-volution | Sanitizing Lagos real estate
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The 8 biggest property trends to watch in South Africa in 2023 – BusinessTech
It’s been a year of challenges on many fronts, with Russia’s war with Ukraine setting the scene for geopolitical uncertainty that has sent shockwaves through economies around the world.
Locally, after two years of record-low interest rates, the Reserve Bank gradually hiked interest rates to help curb inflationary pressures.
According to Carl Coetzee, CEO of BetterBond, while this has significantly impacted affordability and highlighted the importance of prudent budgeting, the residential property market has once again proven its resilience and buyer activity in some price segments, and property sectors remains robust.
This is reflected in BetterBond’s registration volumes which have held steady above pre-2020 levels.
“Furthermore, our bond approval ratios are up 2.01% for November year-on-year, with an improvement in the approval ratio for first-time buyers of 1.44%,” Coetzee said.
“BetterBond expects house prices to soften over the next few months as we reach the peak of the rates’ hike cycle. But there is still a steady demand for bonds across price bands and regions which suggests that property is proving to be an investment safe haven during challenging economic times.”
Looking ahead, Coetzee identified key trends for the housing market in 2023: Read more here
How Technology is Rescaling the Real Estate Sector in Nigeria – Nairamatrics
The global real estate space has enjoyed a torrent of investments over the years, with funding for commercial real estate rising to a whopping US 1.3 trillion in 2021 (a 55% increase from 2020). With radical growth arises the need for expansion and sophistication, resulting in the demand for a robust alignment between technology and real estate to scale the sector and help leapfrog the barriers inhibiting growth in the industry.
Tech deployment in the property space is known as “PROPTECH”. It encapsulates varying property technologies, such as smart home setups, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, asset management software, cloud integration, and several other tools. Ugo Obi of Tilden Development Limited enlightens us saying that “the Nigerian real estate industry is one of many to have embraced technology, especially in property evaluation, development of online marketplaces, smart homes, prospecting, and marketing”. Read more here
Lack of data affecting the real estate sector – The Punch News
The Chief Executive Officer of Purple Real Estate Income Plc, Olaide Agboola, speaks to JOSEPHINE OGUNDEJI on the challenges and prospects of the Nigerian real estate market
How do you think the retail end of the real estate sector can be developed post-recession? Post-recession, retail has become a valuable strategic tool for economic growth, creating more jobs and generating revenue. Several trends are progressing in the retail market, one of which is technology-driven innovation.
Nigeria is the second most developed market in Africa after South Africa and is the second largest consumer market on the continent. The country’s emerging consumer class has an appetite for experiential shopping experiences that provide value for money. There is also an enormous opportunity to invest in social and enabling environments that help Nigerians to live seamlessly, work, shop, play, and consume.
Our experiential offer allows us to combine real estate and technology to increase growth and profitability. As fintech products become increasingly integrated into different retail offerings, we are developing inclusive technology to further our customer base and support their lifestyle. Read more here
Nigerian Proptech Startup, Buyletlive, Engages Leaders in Real Estate Ecosystem at a Digi-volution Forum – This day News
The much-anticipated maiden edition of BuyLetLive’s Stakeholder Engagement Forum themed, “Real Estate Digi-volution”, which took place at the prestigious Grand Ballroom of Eko Hotel & Suites, recently had one major goal in mind: to limit the opaqueness in the real estate market. This is a goal that the brand believes buyers, agents, and landlords have benefited from in the past year through their thoughtfully-created ecosystem enabling improved interactions between stakeholders. As a two-sided marketplace, BuyLetLive aggregates inventory on one side from verified agents and developers and, on the other side, showcases this inventory to home seekers providing them with a wider and safer search experience.
The Stakeholder Engagement Forum aimed to showcase BuLetLive’s product and service guarantee to stakeholders, discussing its potential opportunities and obtaining feedback to serve the ecosystem better. Read more here
Stakeholders laud Lagos drive to sanitize real estate – The Punch News
Stakeholders in the building sector, including a property development company, Address Homes, have commended the drive by the Lagos State Government to tackle the challenges of quackery and fraudulent activities in the real estate sector. The Marketing Manager, Address Homes, Segun Ogunbiyi, described the just-concluded 3rd Real Estate Market Place Conference and Exhibition in Lagos as a huge platform that deepened professionalism in the industry. Other experts and industry stakeholders at the event also commended the state government.
He said the decision of the state government through the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority to create a platform for the players in the industry to discuss safety, technology, and policies and showcase their products and service reinforced Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration’s commitment to boost the sector. Speaking on the sideline of the Conference and Exhibition, Ogunbiyi said the company’s partnership with the government was purely for promoting integrity, professionalism, customer satisfaction,n and safety in the real estate industry in Nigeria. Read more here
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