PROPERTY ARTICLES

Republic of Ireland-based Nigerian real estate marketer, Victor Lamai, has said the Nigerian property market can effectively compete with other real estate markets around the world.

Lamal, who spoke to Daily Independent in Lagos, said he was in Nigeria to supply the missing link between the Nigerian property market and the global market. He said what the Nigerian property market lacked is exposure to international competition and that is what he has set out to provide with his on-line real estate company, Nethomesng.com.

"What informed this was the lack of visibility when people in the Diaspora try to purchase homes in Nigeria. I had a little problem when I was trying to negotiate for a property in Abuja. There were no pictures. "They were telling me different stories. Then, I looked for a web site, just like they have everywhere in the world. Why can't we have in Nigeria a property web site where we can advertise properties and you see the pictures of these properties and you don't need to send people, intermediaries to go looking at them, depending on their own view or opinion of them? It's something I thought was rife for Nigeria," he said.

Assessing the Nigerian property industry, Lamal said it is a growing market.

"The property market in Nigeria is very vibrant. It is as good as any country in the world, New York, London. It appreciates in value. The speculation is very ripe. We have properties in the world that are as good as anywhere in the world. But we do not have the medium to showcase our own properties to the world market like we should. All sorts of people are coming to invest in our real estate because it appreciates the same way others appreciate worldwide. I can tell you that it is better to have property here in Nigeria than in London because it appreciates faster. I can tell you this because I know, I live there. So, what we want to do is to expose the Nigerian property market to the world."

On the operations of Nethomesng.com, Lamal said the website provides an international market place for corporate and individual buyers of property, real estate agents and even governments, who wish to buy property anywhere in the world., where you can view the property online. He explained that he was in Nigeria to establish offices in Abuja, Port Harcourt and Lagos where Nigeria property owners, sellers and buyers can take advantage of their international outreach.