Nigerians in Diaspora largely contributed to the growth recorded in the real estate sector over the years. This category of people was said to have boosted the operations of real estate companies and developers in the past years.
This was disclosed by the Chief Executive Officer, Richfield Limited, a real estate company, Samson Odegbami in a recent interview with Nairametrics.
He said, “A great number of my clients who found it difficult to invest in property or buy one when they were in Nigeria but found it very easy when they traveled out of the country, especially from Canada, United Kingdom and America.
”They found it difficult to send money to their relatives, as they have renewed their confidence in the operators of the sector. Over 50% of our revenue in 2020 were from Nigerians in Diaspora and that is a welcome development for the sector.”
Aside from the patronage from Nigerians abroad, Odegbami explained that the COVID-19 lockdown also boosted operators revenue in 2020.
Contrary to the assumption of some critics that the lockdown was a clog in the wheel of the sector’s operations, Odegbami told Nairametrics that real estate firms made more money at the time the economy was shut by the Federal Government to curb the pandemic.
He said, “We made more sales during the lockdown, as people were forced to stay at home. At that time, most of the clients that have been unreachable before COVID due to their busy schedule were forced to stay at home and they were the ones calling us for site inspection.
”A great number of them bought both landed property and house at that time after they had time for inspection.”
On ways to make money from the sector, Richfield boss added that his company has launched an investment platform called PropVest to boost innovative model for real estate financing.
According to him, PropVest was an income-generating investment platform designed to help individuals make short to medium term cash flow from real estate investment.
”The company would also help to provide the much-needed funds for real estate developers to help mop up the massive housing deficit in Nigeria.
“The real estate industry is a renowned sector that has continued to experience unparalleled growth over the decades. Out of over 206 million Nigerians, over 17 million people are still without a home.
“This is partly due to challenges that individuals face such as lack of funds to build, inflation resulting in constant hike in price of building materials and skilled labour among other issues. PropVest proposes a solution for all,” he added.
Odegbami added that the investment options start at an entry point of N150,000, spanning various investment cycles of between six to nine months with returns of 20%.
