Realtors: Dollar Denominated Building Materials, Inflation Driving Cost of Housing

Oluchi Chibuzor 

Investors in the housing sector in the country have attributed inflation,  price of  cement and dollar denominated building materials to the reason for housing costs in the country and thereby affecting their business plans.

For them, the instability in FX, and high cost of cement is increasing their delivery timeline thereby causing them to be looking for more funds to complete projects.

Speaking at the handing over of the recently newly built Cello luxury apartment 1 in Lekki, the Managing Director,  Leadroitt Realty Limited, Mrs. Gbemisola Ojerinde, said as investors in the sector they had to resort to advance purchase of materials to cushion inflationary trend.

According to her, “We face the challenge of inflation; It is so bad, you know the price of cement at the time we started this project was N3000 and today cement is selling for N8300. The price of a lot of other items that are coated in dollars are so very high and remain a major challenge facing the industry. You will see that the cost of housing is going higher.

“At the beginning of this project we secured a lot of materials in advance. We did a lot of forward contracts even for the lifts, generators and for everything. We bought a lot of things in advance even though we are affected by inflation, the pressure was not much on the firm.”

For the Senior Investment Adviser, Leadroitt Realty Limited, Damilola Adeniran, hike in prices of building materials has significantly increased cost of completing projects within stipulated timeline.

“The price of building an apartment in the country has increased significantly compared to three to five years ago. FX instability for materials denominated in dollars are affecting the industry,” Adeniran stated.

However,  Ojerinde, underscored the need for industry to adhere to strict compliance with regulatory requirements by ultising quality materials despite the challenges facing the industry.