DEVELOPMENT

TOP 10 HOLIDAY DESTINATIONS IN 2012

Looking for holiday ideas? Our editors – The Sunday Times travel writers David Wickers and Mark Hodson – have revealed their top 10 holiday destinations.

These are the most popular destinations with our readers, along with our own personal recommendations. We also have the latest Government data on the numbers of UK visitors travelling abroad.

If you are travelling with children, see our family holiday ideas. If not, search holiday ideas for couples. Or visit our sister sites for 101 honeymoons and 101 short breaks.

If you know when you plan to travel and are looking for ideas of where to go, see Best Time to Visit. Also see our guide to the top honeymoon destinations.

Factors Contributing to Real Estate Underdevelopment in Nigeria; By Akin Olawore

Mr. Akin Olawore is the Principal Partner of Akin Olawore & Co. He is a former president of the Lagos Chapter of Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV). Mr. Olawore has passion for the Nigeria Real Estate Sector and promotes quality and professionalism through the School of Estate where both professional and aspiring professionals step up their games for the potentials in Nigeria’s built sector.

In this chat with Olusesan Ogunyooye of 3Invest Intelligence, Mr. Olawore splits open different issues responsible for the downward slope of Nigeria’s Real Estate Industry. He opined that the lacuna between Nigeria’s real estate and other developing countries’ is a holistic effect. He commented that there seem to be an unharnessed pool of funds to bridge the finance gap; but government and regulators seem to be looking the other way. He also spoke about the different dynamics that rule the real estate markets. Excerpt.

Government recently said NIESV cannot turn blind eyes to high cost of services in the Real Estate sector. It however called for a review of the cost of services. How apt is that submission?

That is not the problem. I think the problem is that of arbitrary rents in some situations and when I say arbitrary, that has nothing to do with the operators, because as brokers, all we are trying to do is to convey information and get one party to meet with the other. We are not going into the transaction with them. It is the two parties who are going into the contract, and all we can do is to guide them.

African/ Nigerian Real Estate Development: An Opinion

Real estate development in Nigeria/Africa is challenged by undue high interest rates often on interest-only lending basis with terms and conditions that are almost like borrowing from a 'mafia' organization - knee-jerk lenders. With that is the 'tooth-pulling-with-a-toothpick' exercise one experiences acquiring clear and marketable title to land. Nigeria land rights is prone and fraught with land title frauds. In addition, absence of secondary market to absorb mortgage backed securities, poor underwritten quality of the assets, makes unleashing real estate market potential in Africa like expecting the sun to rise from the west.