The latest report on Nigerians searching to buy or rent apartments that meet their needs by Reuters indicated that the number of the potential housing buyers and tenants was surging by the day, in spite of the sluggish growth of the nation’s economy.
According to the latest news sourced from the online medium on Friday, such Nigerians searching for their dream home to buy or rent are turning to the internet in droves, leading to a surge in the number of property-focused technology firms.
The growing number of ‘home searchers’ or the emergence of the “proptech” companies is attributed to the country’s rapid population growth, faster broadband speed and cheaper smartphones that have also benefited other sectors from retail to gambling in the last few years.
With about 180 million population, the country has the highest number of internet users in Africa, with approximately 107 million internet data subscribers, representing an increase of about 85 percent over 5 years.
The news indicated that Nigeria’s rapidly growing proptech companies typically adopted a subscription model, charging property agents a listing fee and property developers a commission on completed transactions.
However, Reuters expressed concern that the convenience of online listings in Nigeria’s largely unregulated property market remained risky.
