As the economic lockdown enters its third week, the housing sector is already counting losses as experts express fear that the built industry may witness more slumps.
Former chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) Rivers State, Mr Emmanuel Mark, in a chat with The Tide explained that the built sector is largely driven by informal sub-sector, hence with the economic lockdown, most of the activities in the sub-sector will be grounded.
“Majority of those in the informal sector are those who earn daily pay and if they are not working, certainly there would be a default of rents and other payments,” Mark sub-mitted.
He went further to explain that if the economic shutdown persists  there would be challenge in meeting payment of rents, especially those earning daily pay.
Mark, who is also Regional President of International Right of Way (IRWA) in Nigeria, stated that already demand for properties is going down because a lot of investors are not willing to invest in the sector, but will rather have liquid cash to stay afloat.
On the way to curb the situation, Mark implored government to provide an economic stimulus to ameliorate losses and help the Housing sector, which he said is a key sector in the economy.
On her part, Principal Manager of Custom Realities, Mrs Oriaku Hanson Oyet-Ile submitted that the housing sector was seriously hit by the economic lockdown, occasioned by the Coronavirus pandemic.
“Construction costs will go up, leasing will not go up and so landlords will be willing to bring their rents down so they can survive,” she said.
Oyet-Ile said social distancing has equally made construction activities to be difficult, as most sites are now shut down.
She further stated that, “more empty properties will persist, because rent and buying of properties are no longer active. But those doing their own jobs will not be much affected. Wisdom requires that you be as liquid as possible now.”