As buying and selling property get a whole lot easier through increased digitalised sales, a real estate consulting firm, Jones Longs LaSalle (JLL) has introduced its online commercial property portal to the Nigerian market.
The platform is exclusively design and aimed at simplifying the commercial selling process by giving prospective buyers access to a full range of commercial, industrial and retail property assets for sale across Sub-Saharan Africa.
It features detailed information on each property with the flexibility to search and enquire about commercial space by country, property type, city and suburb throughout the Sub-Saharan region. The tool is backed by quality service and asset information from the JLL professional team, according to Chinwe Ajene-Sagna, Head West Africa, JLL.
The company plans launch the second phase of the property portal, which will simplify the commercial leasing process. In addition to the focus on sellers, phase two will bring tenants and landlords to the mix, and conveniently connect them through the OLM tool. “This phase will introduce potential tenants to the simplicity and flexibility of the tool when enquiring about commercial space throughout the Sub-Saharan region.
JLL Director of Marketing and Communication for Sub-Sahara Africa, Michael Walker who spoke to The Guardian development of online property market in Nigeria said the some Africa real estate market is actually ahead of some international market, with people using phones for their transactions.
He foresees the online property market rising to $20 million for the next five years on actual sales. “Looking at a margin between 3-5 per cent of that next year, we are predicting about $20million but again we see that spiking, so every year we want to double to triple that in next five years, we are looking at a billion dollar platform.”
Walker noted that the property market has started to gain confidence with the economy coming out of recession.