COVID-19: Reasons now is good time to invest in property

With Coronavirus pandemic ravaging the world economy, everybody is preoccupied with survival, leading to a slowdown in the economy and economic activities including product demand and supply.

Therefore, for those who have disposal income, analysts say this is a good time to invest in property and their reason is that everyone is playing safe now and it is actually the time for ‘big boys’ to come out to play, pick up the best deals and create wealth for themselves.

“Every investor in every asset class knows that real gains are made when the market is sluggish, when the ‘average, and mostly over-cautious investor’ is holding back investment decisions,” Udo Okonjo, CEO, Fine & Country West Africa International, confirmed to BusinessDay.

“Every investor in every asset class knows that real gains are made when the market is sluggish, when the ‘average, and mostly over-cautious investor’ is holding back investment decisions,” Udo Okonjo, CEO, Fine & Country West Africa International, confirmed to BusinessDay.

Most of the investors in this market are edgy and are asking a lot of questions. As an investor, Olawale Ayilara, the CEO of Landwey Investment, is concerned about what would be the state of the economy after the pandemic and how that will affect the real estate business.

Though Ayilara sees transactions still taking place through the use of technology, he admits that the present situation will lead to a price fall. “Yes, there will be a change in pricing, which will be as a result of inflation, as the economy struggles to recover from the losses,” he affirms.

Okonjo noted that there are many motivated sellers and investors in the market at a time like this, advising that a wise investor should “look for motivated sellers in the current market who want to move their property stock because of high-interest rates and slow sales.

“There are also opportunities for buying off investors who bought at the early stage of an off-plan project and who may no longer be in a position to complete due to change in financial circumstances”.

She noted further that where the transaction was denominated in dollars, it may also be possible to negotiate a further discount with both the seller and the buyer for cash investors and end up with an exciting investment property with high rental yields and immediate capital appreciation.

Real estate is known generally as a store of value or wealth. At a time like this when Nigeria is contemplating devaluation of its currency, the Naira, investing in property makes much sense.

“For those with mid-to-long-term funds, investing in real estate is a great bet and good protection against inflation. With the equities and bond market going through a bearish season, and inflation still at double-digit although slowing, long-term funds are better invested in real estate,” Okonjo counseled.

45% of new Covid-19 infections in Lagos now community transmission


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Community transmission is fast emerging the fastest way of transmitting the coronavirus disease, accounting for 45 percent of new infections in Lagos currently, Akin Abayomi, Lagos State commissioner for health, said on Monday.
Abayomi said imported cases are decreasing as cases involving those who have returned from abroad are now 54 percent of infections. He warned, however, that with the closure of international airports, imported cases could come through the land borders and vessels.
Giving an update on COVID-19 in Lagos, Abayomi said the state has tested a lot of people from Eti-Osa Local Government Area and that the area was recording high cases of community spread, necessitating more monitoring activities in the surrounding areas.
Earlier, the state listed Etiosa, Ikeja, Alimosho, Kosofe and Oshodi/Isolo LGAs as high target areas where suspected cases could emerge, but Abayomi said the state was becoming more concerned with Alimosho.
“We have seen an increase from one to four in Alimosho,” he said.
“We have 87 active cases. 31 have been discharged. And we have two deaths,” he said, adding that most of the cases are between the ages of 20 and 60 years and that most of them are male.
He said some contacts were not reachable.
Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the state governor, also announced on Monday that two more patients have been discharged from Infectious Disease Hospital at Yaba.
Sanwo-Olu, through his twitter handle on Monday, said the recovered patients are females who have tested negative for the virus twice.
Speaking further during the Covid-19 update, the health commissioner announced that mild cases of the Covid-19 pandemic would be moved to the newly completed isolation centre at Mobolaji Johnson Arena (formerly Onikan Stadium).
The 100-bed facility erected by the state government and Guarantee Trust Bank (GtB) would be officially opened today (Tuesday).
Abayomi said the decision to move patients with mild symptoms to the Onikan centre was to allow health experts at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, concentrate more on patients with severe cases.
He said the Onikan isolation centre was ready, having been fully equipped and a trained medical team now deployed to receive and treat patients with mild cases.
The centre is the first such facility to be erected in Lagos since the state recorded its index case in February. It is to complement the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, an existing facility before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
There are, however, plans by the state government to build additional isolation centres in the other four divisions of Lagos, which include Ikeja, Badagry, Epe, and Ikorodu, in the event that the virus escalates.
Segun Agbaje, managing director of GTBank, handed over the Onikan facility to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Saturday, March 28.
The commissioner also took a swipe at those making prank calls and clogging the system, making it difficult for those with genuine concern to reach the authorities for help.
He said 80 percent of the calls they receive are hoaxes, stating that people also call in with aggressive language.
“11 percent of the calls we receive are welcome – they are asking for information. Only 9 percent of the calls are actually valid calls. But only 4 percent of the valid calls have resulted in a red flag,” he said.

JOSHUA BASSEY, ISAAC ANYAOGU & ANTHONIA OBOKOH