Purpose:  The paper will share the experiences of the only municipal property company in South Africa (the City of Joburg Property Company  SOC LTD)  (JPC) in leveraging  private sector investment on municipal-owned land to create long term income producing assets since its establishment in 2001, and outline a working model complete with key lessons learned and analysis of  Design / methods followed/ approach.  The paper considers the academic as well as professional literature that has developed around the role of public sector entities in using their property holdings to stimulate real estate activity. The paper will outline and explain the processes employed by JPC  in leveraging investments, including an explanation of the legal and accounting frameworks.   Case studies of completed developments will be presented from which general conclusions will be drawn. Comment will be made on extent to which processes have been successful.  A cost-return analysis will be provided for various stages along the property value chain, in order to suggest the optimal risk-return position for municipalities to take in the municipal property development.  The Paper considers key parameters  in the implementation of a municipal asset development strategy.

Findings: JPC has successfully leveraged nearly R2 Billion rand worth of completed development on municipally owned land including the development of large corporate offices (80 000m2) and neighbourhood retail centres, in its first ten years of existence. Most of these developments have been implemented by the private sector on the basis of long term (30-60 year) lease period in terms of which rental is paid to the municipality for the land for the duration of the lease and on expiry of the lease, the full asset  accrues to the municipality, at no cost. The conversion of municipal vacant land assets is a key strategy in building future wealth for the municipality and ensuring long term sustainability. In addition, such a strategy has an important role to play in stimulating local economic development.

Research limitations/implications:  The research is focussed on land located in the Johannesburg Metropolitan area. It also only considers the role of the Johannesburg Municipality in promoting commercial developments. While such developments have multiplier implications for the rest of the property market, these secondary implications are not considered in this research.

Practical implications: The paper will provide a practical model for leveraging development of high value commercial assets on municipal land, with low capital investment requirements and low risk. The assets will provide long term sustainable income  to assist in the sustainability of municipalities.

Originality / Value of work:  JPC is the only municipal property company in South Africa, and is one of the few municipal entities with a dedicated  property development function.   As such JPC is one of the few municipal entities to have applied itself to the extraction of maximum commercial value from municipal property portfolios. The experiences of and the lessons learned have never before been documented and presented as a working model for municipal asset development.

Global property investment has occurred throughout history with investors routinely attracted to new markets including those in Africa. Across selected countries in Africa, the contribution of investible properties to Gross Domestic Product has averaged between 18% and 21% from 2005 to 2010. Property market performance indicators differ by country within the African continent. This paper employs a number of market indicators from two key credible sources – the World Bank data source for Doing Business and Global Property Guide – to comparatively analyze the property market performance in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Namibia and Rwanda. The study areas have been carefully selected in line with the conference venue for the African Real Estate Society for the period 2008 to 2013. This paper shows how these countries have since 2004 substantially streamlined procedures to reduce property registration procedures. Specifically, Ghana is creating a unified land administration system through the establishment of a One-stop office model within the Lands Commission in line with the model in Rwanda. The time required to transfer property in Rwanda is has been reduced from 371 days in 2004 to 25 days in 2012. Kenya is one of the best four countries out of 135 countries studied to have made it easier to deal with construction permits in the property market.

Spectacular gross rental yields prevail across selected countries in the study. Comparable yields ranging between 6% and 9% are analyzed for Ghana and Nigeria whilst Namibia and South Africa residential property markets provide higher yields of between 7.5% and 9% for former, and a wider range of 5% to 13% for South Africa, generally depending on the city. This paper seeks to provide a framework for the development of a Property Market Guide for the African Continent.

The delivery of new cities, large residential housing (including low-income schemes) and infrastructural projects in Africa have been delayed or stopped altogether by various types of disputes, for example, disputes between land owners and buyers, developers and contractors, developers and the financiers, developers and communities and disputes among the joint-venture partner. 

This paper will analyse the problem and propose solutions from an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) perspective with reference to the Arbitration Acts in use in various parts of Africa. It will highlight case studies of real estate projects that have been frustrated by such disputes and success stories in which ADR resolved disputes promptly. It will also discuss court cases in which courts have supported the use of ADR in resolving such disputes privately.

International and regional international investors feel unsafe in national courts, which could be manipulated by their governments. In any case, courts take long to resolve the disputes, while the losing party typically prolongs the dispute by appealing to a higher court.  Meanwhile, costs escalate while the housing deficit mounts.

ADR is generally a creature of contract between the individual parties through ad hoc contracts. Large donor-funded projects typically incorporate the ADR procedures in use internationally, for example the FIDIC Contracts. Finally, Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) have provisions for ADR. The paper will also define the various ADR procedures and comment on their suitability for use singly or in tandem in different scenarios.

The legal recognition of mechanisms to resolve such disputes out of court through internationally recognised procedures boosts investor confidence among domestic, regional and international investors. So does a framework through which courts can enforce the decisions of the ADR procedures.

ADR has generally been resolved by Europe-based dispute resolvers using procedures developed in Europe. This is likely to change following the emergence of ADR institutions in East and Central Africa. An attempt will be made to quantify the number of professional dispute resolvers in Africa.

The paper critically examines the nature of Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) as a new investment vehicle in the context of the Nigerian Capital Market. While REITs have often been regarded as useful tools for optimising portfolio performance, current findings on their actual investment characteristics in terms of returns competitiveness, volatility, sensitivity to underlying fundamentals and correlation with returns from other asset classes over time, especially in periods of high volatility such as many stock markets experienced since the 2008 global financial crisis, remain largely inconclusive. Based on published data over the first four trading years (2008 – 2011) of publicly traded REITs in Nigeria, the paper uses the statistical measures specified by Modern Portfolio Theory to address this issue and draws from its findings two conclusions which are described in the paper as the two irrefutable “laws” of REITs. First, by outperforming the general market while showing weak correlation with the same market, portfolio managers can be assured that real estate retains its diversification values and therefore, they should incline their asset allocation more towards real estate, especially when they anticipate the continuity of the uncertain economic environment under which the world is operating. Secondly, given REIT’s strong positive relationship with underlying business fundamentals, it is imperative for REITs managers to ensure the existence of a robust valuation system and a business strategy that maintains strong balance sheet with steady dividends to investors. The paper thus adds to the growing literature on real estate finance and corporate strategy management, particularly in Nigeria.

The paper seeks to determine users’ preferences in residential building design and fittings, with reference to their age, income level and geopolitical origin. The research design used is a survey and the instrument of data collection is the use of questionnaire and interviews. 121 questionnaires were analyzed in addition to interviews conducted in the study areas of Abuja and Lagos. People in the age categories of (46-60), (61-100) and people from the South East Geo-political zone love design that takes cognizance of security such as the view of the road from the Masters' bedroom and indirect entry to the building. The general analysis of the study shows that the respondent favours, large architectural design of functional spaces, and ease of traffic flow from one unit to the other. It’s preferred that a typical residential design should have a separate dining room or a space designated as dining area marked spatially or distinguished by non-rigid element such as lighting or colour. There is no much distinction on the preference of people with higher educational level and high income. Both set of people prefer expensive finishes such as the use of marble floor, roofing tiles and P.O.P ceilings. People with lesser educational level and income are satisfied with less expensive finishes. Projected windows are preferred to sliding windows, energy saver light is preferred to incandescent bulb, and many more preferences are highlighted in the study findings. The paper enumerates the important issues that developers’ need to bear in mind to satisfy client’s aspiration in a house.

Reliance on the British Automobile Association (AA) or the American counterpart the (AAA) for hotel grading and classification without consideration for local peculiarities that impact on the qualities of hotel is boomeranging. Many countries are now looking for alternative grading and classification system notable amongst them are the Caribbean and Iran. Despite the paradigm shift, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) released a new hotel grading and classification system in 2002 along the line of the “star” system which provoke vitriolic ballyhoos necessitating an urgent need to develop a homegrown system or reinforced the existing “star” system. Hotel Effectiveness Index (HEI) is herein developed which has taken into cognizance customers’ perception of services being rendered by the hotels and could be adopted by Tourism Boards to bolster their current classification and grading system. In order to achieve this, data were collected from hotels’ customers in addition to physical assessment of hotel structures and system operations in Metropolitan Lagos. Stratified sampling technique was used in selecting the samples while Kothari’s formula was used to determine the sample size. Data analysis was executed using descriptive statistics, Spearman Correlation analysis and relative importance index. The resulting Hotel Effective Index (HEI) developed has taken into cognizance customers’ perception of services being rendered by the hotels and may be regarded as a cracker-barrel instrument that could be adopted by Tourism Boards to bolster the current classification and grading system thus, removing any misgiving associated with the “star” system.

The right to Compensation for the compulsory acquisition of real property is constitutional and most enabling laws prescribe valuation methods to be adopted in determining the compensation payable. This paper aims at ascertaining the implications of the constitutional provisions and its impact on the compensation payable. It reviews of some legislation, prescribed compensation rates and a valuation report on the Obite-Ubeta-Rumuekpe (OUR) pipeline acquisition is reviewed and the valuation method analysed. When compared with internationally prescribed standards, the paper concludes that the compensation determined does not meet the compensation requirements of adequacy and that the use of predetermined compensation-rates confound the inadequate compensation determination. It recommends the adoption of valuation methods that indicate compensation sums that meet the constitutional provisions.

Hitherto, acquisition of suitable site is the developer’s foremost focal obligation to a project but access to it remains a central challenge. Its process can be frustrating and unpredictable since many factors, often outside the developer’s control, can influence its success. Considering the importance of site acquisition in the corporate real estate development process and peculiarity of the developmental challenges posed by the land factor, this study exploits the data of the Lagos State real estate transactions and activities to ascertain and observe the distinctive acquisition problems and then evaluate the level of occurrence and impact of these identified issues and challenges on the corporate real estate development performance and rank in order of consequence. Adopting the self-administered questionnaire to sample the opinion of the selected Lagos-based corporate real estate development companies, 24 distinctive site acquisition problems are identified and further analysis reveals that lack of basic infrastructure to selected sites, high cost of acquisition, cumbersome government allocation and high cost of titling perfection are the top-ranked site acquisition problems. Nonetheless, this study suggests that the corporate real estate development establishments and the public sector should work hand in hand especially in the availability and access to suitable developable sites for real estate development and investment projects.

Purpose: Conventional valuation methodology has proved inadequate to capture cultural heritage value in African Commonwealth countries. The paper addressed grey valuation methodology issues in Nigeria, which was presented as a case study of an African country facing unresolved methodology. The paper identified and examined cultural heritage property types compulsorily acquired in Delta State, Nigeria between 2002 and 2011, identified the diverse compensation valuation methodology adopted by valuers, examined the factors that influenced methodology and investigated stakeholders’ perceptions of the compensation adequacy. This was with a view to providing guiding principles for appropriate compensation valuation of African heritage properties.

Design/methods: Primary data were collected through field observations of acquired heritage sites as well as three sets of questionnaire administered on community heads of eight identified expropriated communities, all the thirty-three registered firms of valuation surveyors in the study area and directors of the public acquiring agencies in Delta State. 

Findings: The study identified 33 shrines, 5 cemeteries, 3.traditional forests, 2 historical buildings, 1 sacred grove, 1 battleground and 1 palace which were compulsorily acquired and subsequently valued for compulsory acquisition in the 8 communities. The major heads of claim employed in their valuations were the value of unexhausted improvements, resettlement costs and cultural expenses. The valuation techniques adopted were direct comparison, cost of resettlement and contingent valuation. Major factors that influenced the choice of heads of claim were valuer conservatism (a resort to conventional heads), government bias for resettlement and the demand of claimants for compensation for disturbance of sacred property. Significant variation was observed between the expectations of the stakeholders on cultural valuation methodology and valuation practice. The study concluded that valuers’ approaches to cultural heritage property valuation in the study area require wider valuation basis and scope of heads of claim.

Practical implications: The paper clarifies grey areas that exist in Nigerian heritage valuation methodology and provides information needed for reviews of the valuation components of compensation laws. 

Originality/Value: This paper addresses practical methodological problems experienced in the valuation of heritage property in in African Commonwealth countries."

As part of the process of assessment of Masters Real Estate (MRE) curricula in South Africa, real estate professionals in the property industry were surveyed to rank topics included in the curricula in order of their importance. Results reveal that professionals consider property finance as the most important topic in the curriculum and information technology as the least important topic. Findings will guide universities offering MRE programmes in South Africa and elsewhere in the processes of curriculum improvement.

Mining activities apart from adding to the revenue base of individuals, families and the government has negative effect on land cover and residents that adjoins the area, particularly, where such activities are done without recourse to sustainability. It is in this light that this study examined the effect of abandoned mining pits on residents’ health, environment and rental value of property in Dorowa a suburb of Bukuru in Nigeria. Information relating to the effects of mining was obtained from residents of the area. It was discovered that abandoned mining sites in the neighbourhoods have been an issue of great concern because it has become breeding ground for diseases, death traps to young children, building collapse etc. Surprisingly, despite these challenges, there has been a sustained influx of people to the area from Jos North and its environs as a result of reoccurring religious violence resulting in high land and rental values. The findings in this study show that detrimental conditions may be neglected if there are some compelling push effects from other neighbourhood(s). It is therefore recommended that residents should be educated on the danger of building houses close to mining sites and the plateau state government should as a matter of urgency rescue the security situation to curtail avoidable influx of people to the area. Also in the interim, the area should be fumigated to dislodge vector breeding insects and animals.

Due to increasing population, migration and urbanization, demand for urban land uses is obviously outstripping supply leading to highly conflicting land uses in the urban areas. Consequently, there are lopsided land allocations by urban planners to residential, commercial and industrial uses leaving many uses especially in the informal sector uncatered for. Thus, urban crop farming which is a variant of urban agriculture is considered an illegal land use without land being provided for it. This paper advocates that urban crop farming be validly recognized by policy makers in order to enhance its contribution to sustainable urban land management. Seven farming communities in the metropolis where urban crop farming is thriving well were purposely selected while simple random sampling was subsequently used to select respondents in farming communities and structured questionnaires administered to them. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics to answer the various research questions while regression analysis was used to investigate the research hypothesis. The study established that most of the lands used by urban crop farmers are owned by public authorities (65.8%), private organizations (23.9%) and individuals (7.2%). Respondents therefore largely gained access to land through squatting or land grabbing (60.1%) and renting (28.7%). It also established that urban crop farmers’ productivity could be greatly improved if problems associated with affordability were tackled. The study therefore provided a blueprint for policy makers that would enable equitable land distribution in the Lagos metropolis.

In developing countries, high population growth rates in urban areas coupled with inadequate government coping strategies led to an increase in the formation of unplanned settlements associated with inadequate social and technical infrastructure. The social infrastructure includes education, health, security, etc. while technical infrastructure includes roads, drainage systems, electricity, telecommunication, water and sanitation. Unplanned settlements, most of the times informally occupied, lack such infrastructure or when present is inadequate due to lack of space for facility location. Sanitation, one of the components of infrastructure seems to be inadequate and if provided is poor. In areas where water table is high this results into frequent emptying of toilets. This situation is made worse due to financial and spatial constraints faced by most of the people living in these settlements. 

Previous sanitation researches done on the availability of toilets in various areas in the city of Dar es Salaam, particularly in Zamcargo settlement, show that many households were living without latrines, or two to three households were sharing one. This has been one of the sources of diseases such as cholera, typhoid, diarrhea and dysentery. The same researches reported that most of the residents of these areas lack sanitation education or cannot afford the construction of improved latrines. 

To address this problem, a project on construction of ecological sanitation toilets (ECOSAN toilets) for demonstration was initiated and implemented at Zamcargo settlement and financed by Water-Aid-Tanzania (an NGO). This paper, therefore, presents an evaluation of the impacts of ECOSAN toilet project to the Zamcargo community in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Through observations in the field and discussions with beneficiaries it became obvious that improved sanitation led to significant and tangible impacts in their lives. It was noted also that water from wells, which was the only source of water in the area, has not been contaminated anymore. 

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to analyse the value-determining factors and examine how valuers consider and evaluate value determining variables in residential property valuation in Akure. Estate Surveyors and Valuers have less than a full understanding of how value-determining variables behave in contributing to the value of residential property. Therefore, the assumption that each variable operates independently of all others while simplifying valuation procedure, does not reflect the real-world complexities of the market. However, the skill of the Estate Surveyor and Valuer in appropriately interpreting the contributions of the variables as well as their inter-relationships in value determination cannot be over-emphasised.

Design/methods followed/approach – The study involved a residential property and administration of questionnaires on all the 21 valuation firms in Akure. The data were analysed by descriptive statistics, factor analysis and analysis of variance.

Findings – The study indicated four value-determining factors in the determination of residential property values in Akure, Nigeria to include physical, political, economic and social factors. The study further showed that there are differences in the means and evaluation of value determining variables among Estate Surveyors and Valuers in Akure among other findings.

Practical Implications – The study identified relevant empirically supported factors that should be considered by Estate Surveyors and Valuers during the valuation process and also provide a ranking template for value-determining variables as a guide during valuation exercise. Originality/value of work – The study has contributed to the body of knowledge in valuation and provides a reliable and empirical reference for the Nigerian practice and research environment.

Purpose:  The basic goal of an investment in real estate is to make the highest positive net return possible, and the process of attaining the aim commences at the site selection stage with accessibility being of paramount consideration. Many investors, appraisers and developers often base site selection and analysis of accessibility on intuition and mere physical observation of neighbourhoods without scientific approach. The aim of this study is therefore to examine the application of graph-theoretic analysis in resolving the challenge of improper site selection process and accessibility issues in real estate development, using Ikeja city in Nigeria as case study. 

Methodology:  In attaining the aim, the satellite map of the study area was derived and converted into linear graph regardless of the width, length and quality of roads. The nodal points of the roads that form network in the study area were serially numbered and translated into simple matrix of the number to obtain the accessibility indices for the ranking of access routes in the study area. 

Findings: The study showed the application of graph-theoretic approach in resolving the accessibility and site selection issues in real estate development process.

Practical Implications: The findings would provide better understanding of determination of accessibility which hitherto had been done by mere intuition by real estate appraisers and planners through the application of the approach. This is applicable to informing developers in making the choice of locations by scientifically establishing the most accessibility location and thus assists in site selection. Also, this would assist the appraisers in the ranking of several of locations along arterial routes with a view to determining viability of the development relating to choice of sites. 

The global economic meltdown of 2008 is adjudged in many circles as the worst financial crisis as it not only threatened to collapse large financial institution, but also premised the bailout of many banks the world over by their governments and also resulted in stock market downturn. The meltdown affected many business concerns and property investments. Property markets in different parts of the world were under severe threat, and their property cycle in line with the economic cycle experienced a downturn. The study aims at examining how the global meltdown affected activities in the prime residential market in Lagos, Nigeria relative to sub-prime property market. Data will be collected from developers, estate surveyors and financial institutions through both structured questionnaire and official documented information. Analysis will be based on both descriptive and inferential statistics.

This study aims at examining the inflation-hedging effectiveness of Agricultural real estate in Tula, Nigeria. Both primary and secondary data on real estate (farmland) returns (holding period rate of returns) and inflation rates in the study area for the period between 2002 and 2012 was obtained from private Estate Agents in Tula as well as the Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics/Central Bank of Nigeria respectively. The collated data was analyzed using the Ordinary Least Square Regression model. Contrary to the common perception that real estate is an all-time inflation hedge, the study revealed that farmland does not effectively hedge against inflation in the study area. Inflation-hedging effectiveness of various asset classes is of particular interest to investors in view of the volatile inflationary and economic instability which characterized the economy of Nigeria. The results of this study will be useful for investment forecasts as well as investment decisions with respect to the asset types to include in investment portfolios as a measure for protecting the value of investors’ purchasing power from erosion by inflation. Research work on the subject of inflation-hedging capabilities of real estate majorly focused on residential, commercial and industrial real estate. This study expanded the scope of the inflation-hedging literature by empirically examining the inflation-hedging effectiveness of agricultural real estate in Tula, Nigeria.

This paper describes the significance of involving property industry professionals in real estate curriculum at the universities offering real estate programmes in Africa. Suggestions are also given on how the integration of the industry can be achieved into the curriculum. The objective is to graduate real estate students that meet industry requirements in Africa.

This paper focuses on large scale land acquisitions in Ghana (defined for purposes of this work as single acquisitions in excess of 5000 acres purchased or leased) with analysis of quantitative data from state and non-state institutions: Ghana Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands, Ghana Lands Commission, Ghana Free Zones Board and Ghana Investment Promotion Centre as well as qualitative information from interviews with key stakeholders in Ghana’s land business notably Estate Agents and the Land Allocation Committees of Stools, Skins, Clans and Families. 

This study is an attempt to further close the information gap, facilitate debate and provide guidance to key stakeholders and governments on why they should and how they can together stop and reverse negative effects of the acquisitions.

In this work, samples of recent large scale land acquisitions contracted between 2002 and 2012 have been analyzed to (1) demonstrate the trends and features of acquisitions, (2) establish the faces, as well as motives for the acquisitions (3), identify salient terms and conditions of contracts and (4) discuss threats and opportunities of the acquisitions and finally (5) discuss recommendations for making a virtue of necessity towards win-win outcomes.

Results show a trend of proliferating land acquisition in terms of numbers and sizes in all sampled region of in the country. The rising global requirement for food and non-food agricultural products, attractive rates of return for agricultural investments, incentives by Government, the unique natural characteristics and perceived abundance of suitable land and other factors of production were identified as the main pull-push factors. The study also observed domination of acquisitions by foreign private organizations in partnership with local entities, concentration of acquisitions in areas of more fertile land and an increasing trend of stalled projects arising from contestations by inhabitants and interest groups even in cases where contracts have been sealed between landlord and investor. 
 

Macroeconomic indicators have been identified as having significant affect on a nation’s economy including the quantity of money available for real estate development; and arguably, pension funds have been identified as real estate finance option. Consequently, what are relationships between macroeconomic indicators and pension fund contributions? In resolving this question, secondary data were obtained from the websites of Central Bank of Nigeria and National Pension Commission covering 2006 to 2010. The Pearson’s product moment correlation analysis revealed the following variables pairing with pension fund contributions as having P-values < 0.05: AVNM and PFC (P-value = 0.0209; r2=0.93); CPS and PFC (0.0100; 0.96); BsM and PFC (0.0066; 0.97); CiC and PFC (0.0059; 0.97); BRs and PFC (0.0182; 0.94); CoB and PFC (0.0097; 0.96); DdD and PFC (0.0230; 0.93); QuM and PFC (0.0054; 0.97); AVBM and PFC (0.0095; 0.96). The study found that money supply in the economy (narrow and broad money), credit to private sector, base (or reserved) money, currency in circulation, bank reserves, currency outside bank, demand deposit, quasi-money, all have high and positively correlated relationships amongst them. Similarly, trend analysis indicated continuous increase in pension fund contributions into the nearest future. It concluded that pension fund contributions would be a veritable source of financing real estate in Nigeria if properly harnessed.

The study examines mortgage financing as a process of giving loans under specific mortgage terms such as interest rate, repayment period and the loan amount to acquire real estate property. The mortgage terms and consumer knowledge, a multidimensional construct, influence the consumers’ choices, decision process and create real demand preferences that guide investments in real estate. This led Ugandan to adopt key policy strides in the recent years that focused on achieving favourable mortgage terms and enhancing consumer knowledge to increase the performance of mortgage financing measured as growth in portfolio, number of home owners and more investment. Despite these measures, the performance of the mortgage financing was 0.5% far below the targeted 5%, prompting this study to include attitude as a variable, which is a psychological phenomenon of evaluating situations and influencing choices. We used a cross-sectional survey approach and a sample of 196 and collect data using a self-administered questionnaire to managers of mortgage and brokerage firms. The sample was selected on the basis that they were in the best position to evaluate household consumer knowledge given their level of interaction with them. This study used quantitative method such as correlation analysis and multiple regressions to test the hypotheses. The result shows that attitude to mortgage financing was the most important predictor of performance of mortgage financing while consumer knowledge and mortgage terms were found to be moderate. Our findings are significant as they reveal that incorporating household attitude variable positively influence the household demand which subsequently enhances mortgage financing and leads to more investment in the real estate.

The Eko Atlantic City is a new city currently being built on reclaimed land on the Atlantic Ocean, along the Bar Beach shoreline in Lagos, Nigeria. The development is a joint venture between the Lagos State Government and South Energyx Nigeria Limited.  The city is estimated to occupy a land size of about 10 square kilometres and have a mix of different land uses. The well-planned city would be home to about 250,000 people and provide employment for about 150,000 people. The project has already recorded a 50% completion of the reclamation site and provision of infrastructural facilities such as road layouts within the area.

It is expected that the emergence of this new city would have some impact on the local real estate market as the Eko Atlantic City would increase the supply of property accommodation units for the different land uses. This paper looks at the impact of new cities to real estate markets, with particular reference to the impact of the Eko Atlantic City to real estate market trends, practices and values in the neighbouring regions of Victoria Island and Ikoyi; both in Lagos State, laying emphasis on its likely effect on property values on both new and existing buildings.

Investigations using online resources, interviews with real estate professionals as well as the local real estate trends have aided in the determination of the research. A few limitations to the research work such as the authenticity of information garnered since the land area is still being sand-filled and that few developers have begun construction but are still at the foundation stage.  

Despite the limitations, the paper remains relevant in recent times as a pointer to real estate investors in these areas and a projection of how real estate trends and practices would evolve in the near future.
 

This paper is based on a research carried out in Preparation of a structure plan for Konza Techno City in Kenya. Konza Techno City is one of the flagship projects under the Kenya Vision 2030. The establishment of a new town is supposed to spur economic development in the area. This paper explores the land dynamics as a result of this development. There are three principal methods of research used here: documentary analysis, interviews and reflexive practice. The paper explores the land dynamics from the time the project was mooted in 2000 to 2012 when the research was undertaken. 

The proposed Konza City has opened up the area for development resulting in land use change and land value rise. The impact of the project changes in land use from ranches to settlement, or from wildlife corridor to settlement, rise in land values to as high as 600%, displacement of the local population by Nairobi population who can afford the high land values and rampant speculation and subdivision into smaller portions. 

The results imply a need to integrate regional planning into government strategic development plans. Policymakers should consult widely before designating certain areas for development especially if it will have an impact on wildlife which is a scarce resource.

The research limitation is that the project was implemented at the time that the group ranches were being disbanded and land being subdivided meaning that even without Konza City, the land values and use would still have changed but not to such a magnitude.  This research is of importance to any government wishing to implement new towns because it gives an indication of what would happen to the land resource and how to plan for resultant changes.

The current land use management in Nyarugenge is not in good condition. The land use in urban part of this district is characterized by housing which most of them are very old and built in unplanned way. Poor waste water disposal, lack of accessibility is common characteristic of Nyarugenge except the area named Kiyovu. Most of all houses in Nyarugenge are single stories with overcrowdings and a considerable number of them are built on the site unsuitable for habitation. It is clear that there is a problem of poor housing result in unsuitable urban land use management.

The main cause of this problem are lack of planning, lack of effective legislation, lack of institutions, lack of adequate professionals, most of Nyarugenge population are low income earners and high degree of rural urban migration. High migration rate causes high dwelling demand where high pressure is exercised on small urban land. This high pressure which arrives without effective and efficient measures in planning and legislation results in squatting to the land and negative effects are raised from the moment. 

The negative effects of poor land use management through housing is currently considerable everywhere in Nyarugenge. Most of hazards present currently such as flooding and destruction of houses by wind, fire are caused or made aggravated by the issue of poor housing. Not only hazards; even living conditions are not good due to poor settlement in the District. The peri-urban encroachment is disturbing the residents of Nyarugenge rural areas like Kanyinya and others  where their farm land are directly translated into residential zones. Housing is erasing agriculture due to urban sprawl problem.   

Although here is a problem of poor housing and land scarcity which is causing those effects; the current approaches are not adequate to address that issue. They are still encouraging horizontal growth of the city rather than promoting vertical densification for managing our small scarce land. These approaches are also ignoring that he who wears the shoe knows where it hurts and use top down approach instead of integrating local community in decision making while solving the issue of land use management.

Current approaches are not addressing poor housing and it has been found that using urban land in sustainable way is the engine of development of a country. So, innovative solutions are needed for enhancing sustainable land use management in Nyarugenge in order to prevent hazards, protect the environment, increase land productivity, reduce urban sprawl, use the land on its highest and best use, increase the living quality of urban dwellers and solve current need today having in mind future generation. Apart from academic purpose, the problem of poor land use management constrains me to undertake a research which the main objective is to provide innovative approaches for securing sustainable housing that enhances sustainable land use management in Nyarugenge district and becomes a show case for other urban districts.

In order to achieve our research objectives, the predetermined boundaries of a research should be well illustrated. Our study, we were dealing with sustainable land use management. As land management is broad and we have limited time and means we focused on housing land use for enhancing sustainable urban land use management. We tried to get a reference from different case studies like Ethiopia, Ghana, Hong Kong, etc… and data from survey for analyzing the problem. Ours research is providing guidelines and advice to policy makers. As I am an estate manager my role here is not for providing policies but providing active advice and guide lines to be followed in elaboration of policies regulating housing for sustainable land use management in urban areas of our country.

The approaches have been suggested. Those would be planning and implementation of high rise housing such as MILUs (multi-intensive land use) and condominium through slum upgrading rather than encouraging urban sprawl because we need land for other economic activity for the development of our country. Based on land scarcity, galloping population growth and high demand on housing in Rwanda low rise (single stories) are no longer able to meet the needs of housing in sustainable way. There is a need of high rises housing for meeting sustainable urban land use management which boost sustainable economic development of our country as it was done in Ethiopia. 

Even though this kind of housing requires high costs, innovation in financing these kinds of development is also suggested like rent to own scheme, housing cooperatives, subsidies and incremental financing system. Further researches also should provide adequate method of financing these schemes of housing. Sustainable land use management is needed because it offers a great spectrum of chance to encourage economic growth, environmental conservation and management, increased living standards and social equality, while mitigating the problems related to high growth rate of population, high urbanization rate, poor and informal settlement, poverty, lack of access to services and utilities, and economic uncertainty. 

It has been found that vertical densification is the only kind of sustainable housing which increases land productivity, uses the land at its highest and best use, can protect the environment, can increase living standards of population, can reduce urban sprawl and meeting current land use need without forgetting the needs in future generation. Based on land scarcity, galloping population growth and high demand on housing in Rwanda; low rise (single stories) are no longer able to meet the needs of housing in sustainable way. There is a need of high rises housing for meeting sustainable urban land use management which boost sustainable economic development of our country.

With different characteristics, real estate markets in Africa are products of dissimilar economic regimes that determine their attractiveness to local and foreign investors. Each market is unique and therefore finds itself in both regional and global competition. This paper analyses real estate performance indicators in Ghana, one of the fastest growing economy in Africa to demonstrate the market’s competitiveness as an investment vehicle in the continent. Additional analysis by using the real estate performance indicators in Ghana shows the market’s good qualities in comparison with other global asset classes.

The results show abundant investment potentials in favour of real estate market in Ghana, one of the two “lions” of Africa. The paper argues that availability of credible real estate data and their quantitative analysis are critical interventions to stimulate the market’s development. Not only will such performance indicators attract investors but also support the development of the market. Overall, real estate total returns have run at annualised rate made up of a relatively stable income return and highly volatile capital growth. Across submarkets, the differences in long-run returns have been in large part driven by variation in rates of rental value growth. Sufficient evidence is shown in this paper to make real estate investment market attractive in Africa using results from Ghana as a case study.

Purpose: Transparency through high-quality property valuation reporting in compliance with international standards is central to the attainment of maturity in an opaque property market in this era of globalized real estate investment. This study examined the extent to which Nigerian valuation reports have complied with International standards. It also examined the extent to which compliance with these standards are affected by the structure of property valuation firms in the country.

Design/Methods followed/Approach: This study examined reports prepared for lending purposes in Nigeria most especially those that have been submitted to banks. The qualities of these reports are assessed by examining the extent to which they satisfy the “minimum content of valuation report” as prescribed by RICS and IVSC. Compliance with these standards are related to the structure of the valuation firms that prepared them in terms of size, structure of ownership and affiliation with international professional bodies like RICS, FIABCI and CASLE through Logistic regression analysis.

Findings: The findings will be communicated as the study is about to be completed.

Originality/value of work: No known study (to the best of our knowledge) had examined the effect of the structure of property valuation firms on the quality of reports. While the collapse of multinationals like Enron and WorldCom with the indictment of Arthur Andersen further triggered the scrutiny of Audit firms in terms of structures and size through researches (such as Simunic, 2003; Foroghi and Shahshahani, 2012; Adeyemi and Fagbemi, 2010; Sawan and Alsaqqa, 2013), there has not been any recorded attention on the investigation of the structure of property valuation firms in the wake of property valuation induced crisis like the Schneider Affair of Germany and the Asian Financial crisis.

One of the most popular planned community models today is golf-course residential development. In the past one decade, Kenya has seen an unprecedented boom in the building of high-end golf courses linked to luxury real-estate communities in the urban fringes of the Capital City of Nairobi. . Most real-estate developers in Kenya have teamed up with top-name golf-course architects, building exclusive communities adjacent to courses.

This is in line with the country’s Vision 2030 where the challenge to decongest the main urban areas, creation of new investment and settlement opportunities will be overcome through systematic creation of new self-contained satellite towns in areas where ample tracts of land are available. 

It has been noted that these developments may contribute to economic growth and job creation, rehabilitation of environmentally degraded areas and upgrading of infrastructure, which may benefit surrounding communities. It has also been noted that these developments may deplete water resources, consume agricultural land, spoil landscapes and heritage resources, displace and divide communities; especially rural communities, perpetuate divisive patterns of spatial development through the segregation created by security measures and counter social integration and integrated sustainable public service delivery.

This paper seeks to highlight the various impacts of this specific type of development including but not limited to how Real property values are positively affected by golf course developments. Property tax commonly known as rates in Kenya is one of the most important revenue streams for urban towns and cities. By creating a positive climate for increased property values, the local government valuation rolls will positively benefit in turn as the property values rise as increased property values and increased municipal revenues go hand in hand. The paper cautions and points out factors that may induce a  possibility of failure to sell off the properties over a long time thereby making both the golf industry and the real-estate market to take a nose-dive at once due to the lack of realisation of the envisaged gains of the investment.  It further highlights the impact of such developments on the environment particularly the fragile ecosystems and depletion of natural resources due to increased development of infrastructure for such dedicated open space and the expansive views of the golf courses.

The paper concludes with a set of suggestions for sustainable development of residential golf real estate developments in the major towns and cities in Kenya.

The relationship that exists between real estate development planning and public utilities is often not easily appreciated. What is glaring most of the time is the inadequacy of these utilities. However, it is by means of regulations and adherence to planning that adequacy of these utilities can be ensured. The paper examines the current innovation in plot subdivision in government residential schemes as well as the challenges associated with it. Issues concerning plot subdivision are discussed with respect to residential land use. The paper also presents the challenges of further division of land for residential development. Questionnaires were administered on the occupants of the Government Residential Area based on the existing street within the residential scheme. More efficient designs increase the existing infrastructural facilities and adjustments of the size of plots are recommended to ensure effective use of the available space. Finally, it is emphasized that the issues of implementation should be taken much more seriously.

It is a basic assumption in property valuation and investment analysis that investors primarily seek to maximize wealth by selecting investments on the basis of their risk and return characteristics; which suggests that the decision making process is more or less a risk/return tradeoff. As a result, risk, like return, need be analyzed and quantified to make the required tradeoff meaningful and transparent. This study includes an empirical investigation of how Nigerian valuers presently account for risk and convey risk information to clients. In addition, the study explores how risk can best be measured and reported in a helpful and transparent manner given the peculiar characteristics of an emerging property market like Nigeria. The study employed only secondary data made up mainly of valuation and investment analysis reports prepared by Nigerian valuers. Of the several valuation reports examined, only a negligible few refers to or formally addresses investment risk profiles with regards to the inputs or the resultant valuations. While the valuers often employ one or more of the conventional risk measurement model such as the payback period and sensitivity analysis in their investment analysis reports, the limited risk implications implicit in the results could not be communicated in a manner that permits returns to be evaluated against associated risks transparently. The required paradigm shift demands that valuers begin to look at the decision variables more in terms of their distributions rather than as single-point estimates; and that they develop the skill for assigning probabilities to their various outcomes.

Lack of affordable housing in urban areas is creating movement of people from the urban area to the periphery resulting in increasing land and housing prices. The major consequences are land use conversion and increasing extent of informal settlement and urban sprawl due to uncontrolled urban expansion. With increasing population and a major dependence on an agriculturally based economy, it is challenging to balance the need for efficient urban land management and housing affordability in Rwanda. 

This study is aimed at analyzing the socio-economic dimensions of land use conversion and its implications for urban land management and housing affordability in Musanze town of Musanze district in the Northern Province. Several indicators were examined such as migration (factors of migrating to the periphery, migration rate and migrants’ place of origin); land use (initial use of land and current use of land); as well as factors of land and housing price increase. To capture the implications for affordable housing, data was obtained from a sample of 120 respondents using a cluster sampling technique and structured interviews. 

The analysis finds evidence of land use conversion and increasing housing prices from the urban centre towards the periphery.  The situation is exacerbated by land speculation in the peripheral areas. Thus, this inside-to-outward town movement of people has serious implications for affordable urban housing in Rwanda. With the higher tendency for low-income earners or poor to move from the city to the periphery in search of cheaper housing and/or land options, towns in Rwanda will ultimately be faced with the twin challenges of spatial and social segregation in housing provision. With further occupation of the urban peripheries, prices of houses located in the periphery are bound to increase as people speculate. The findings presented in the paper suggest the need for further research in this domain. 
 

Valuation practice is increasingly gaining prominence in the African emerging economies as a key instrument in decision making. However, the concepts and theories being applied remain Western in orientation and are accepted as universal in application. Policymakers are increasingly questioning their relevance given the unique situation of the emerging economies. This has led to increased pressure on academics and practitioners for homegrown answers. This paper discusses valuation practice in Kenya and attempts to unpack the theoretical links between valuation and the idea of the market. It attempts to explain the meaning of the market, value and price. It also attempts to explain the meaning of these concepts in relation to valuation practice. 

This paper discusses market theory and its application to the valuation practice. In this sense, it seeks to link the practice with theory. This paper further traces the evolution of theories related to valuation and their relevance to the amidst several intervening factors. 

Real estate sector has been one of the most important sectors of economic growth with public and private investment leading to intense demand for housing, land consumption and shortage of urban infrastructure. The study focussed on urban spatial pattern and infrastructural development in Akure, Nigeria. The choice of this location was based on the fact that Akure is experiencing a high pace of urbanization. As one of the fastest growing capital cities in Nigeria, Akure is facing stiff challenges in managing the urban growth leading to ineffective delivery of basic services. The methodology employed include stratification of the study area into three neighbourhoods namely, low, medium and high density. Multi-stage sampling technique was then used to select and elicit information on residential properties, their occupants and the state of infrastructure. Descriptive statistics were used in the analysis of the data. The study revealed that most dwellings are lacking in essential infrastructures in the high density and the situation differs as we approached the low-density neighbourhoods. Based on this, the paper proposes strategies for tackling the problem of infrastructure decay in the capital city. These include urban renewal and public-private partnership approach to infrastructural development.

This research work examined the effects of urbanization on urban fringes in Birnin Kebbi metropolis Nigeria. A survey was carried out using a questionnaire and oral interview. One set of questionnaire was designed and administered for the collection of primary data used for the study. The questionnaire was administered on the household heads in the urban fringes. Likert scale, urban growth rate formula and Landsat imagery were used to analyze the primary data collected for the determination of the causes and effects of urbanization on urban fringes. Investigation indicated that the study area experienced urban expansion and this has affected the urban fringes. The effects are among others, the reduction in urban farm activities, increase in the cost of infrastructural development and transportation cost. Provision of cost-effective transportation to ease the problems of commuters, establishment of pragmatic institutions that will see to the effective land use control and management at the urban centres and peri-urban area, effective crime control mechanism at both urban centres and fringe areas so as to discourage the use of urban fringes as hideout for criminals are among the recommendations made in this research work.