Housing Investment Data

Investor interest in housing and property in Africa has grown substantially recently. Driven, in part, by new market opportunities created by economic growth and a rising urban middle and lower middle class, investors are looking for specific initiatives on which to place their bets. Data across most of Africa is scarce, however, especially so for the housing and housing finance sectors. Specific data gaps include a lack of data on affordability, building code and building materials norms, competitive market horizon, infrastructure norms and constraints, land ownership and titling norms, profitability of investments in affordable housing, and on the market itself.

As investors struggle to assess market risk and opportunity with precision, they shift their sights to more easily dimensioned and quantified investments—in energy, telecommunications, retail or commercial ventures—or price for the inability to fully review and dimension risk, ultimately narrowing the affordability of the housing output.  Better data would make the housing and housing finance markets in Africa work better for all market participants, including the poor.