…However, the report cautions that persistent inflation, high material costs, bureaucratic delays, and expensive financing continue to hinder the sector.
LAGOS, NIGERIA- The iNews Times | Nigeria’s heavy dependence on imported building materials, currently at 70 per cent, is placing the housing market at serious risk of supply disruptions and currency volatility, according to the State of Lagos Housing Market Report (Volume 3).
The report notes that despite Nigeria’s wealth of raw materials, inadequate processing capacity continues to fuel reliance on imports. It warns that “a staggering 70 per cent dependence on imported building materials exposes the market to global supply chain disruptions and currency instability.”
To address this vulnerability, the report recommends a comprehensive strategy that includes strengthening local production through manufacturing hubs and targeted incentives, improving supply chain systems, introducing consistent policy reforms, promoting sustainable and innovative construction practices, and attracting increased domestic and foreign investment. These interventions, it stresses, are essential for stabilising prices, reducing Nigeria’s severe housing deficit, and supporting long-term economic growth.
The report highlights Lagos as the centre of construction and real estate activity in Nigeria, noting that the city’s building materials market often reflects or predicts national trends. Nigeria’s construction sector, it states, is on a strong growth path, with annual expansion projected at eight per cent and a market value expected to reach ₦25.72 trillion by 2025. The industry recorded a 12.1 per cent CAGR between 2020 and 2024 and is forecast to grow at 6.4 per cent from 2025 to 2029, reaching ₦35.38 trillion by 2029.
This growth is driven by rapid urbanisation, population expansion, and rising demand for housing, commercial spaces, and infrastructure. Government-backed projects, such as the Lagos Rail Mass Transit and road network expansions are also expected to elevate property values and spur further construction activity.
However, the report cautions that persistent inflation, high material costs, bureaucratic delays, and expensive financing continue to hinder the sector. Supply chain disruptions and currency instability have already created significant obstacles.
While the construction industry shows strong growth prospects, the report notes that escalating input costs are constraining its true potential. It observes that the rising monetary value of the sector is influenced more by price hikes than by actual increases in construction volume. This underscores deeper structural challenges affecting affordability and supply across the building materials market.
Given Lagos’s role as Nigeria’s economic and construction nerve centre, national issues such as inflation, currency depreciation, and supply inefficiencies are even more pronounced in the city. As a result, reforms implemented in Lagos could serve as a blueprint for broader nationwide improvements in the building materials and housing markets.
The report also documents a dramatic rise in the prices of key building materials in Lagos between 2015 and 2025, with a steep acceleration beginning in 2023. In September 2015, for instance, an 8mm local iron rod sold for ₦87,000 per 133 units, while the imported version cost ₦102,000. A 12mm local rod cost ₦98,000 for 93 units, compared to ₦152,000 for the imported equivalent.
By 2023, the price of iron rods (10mm–16mm) had surged to ₦800,000 per tonne. The escalation intensified between May 2023 and May 2024: a 12mm rod rose from ₦8,000 to ₦19,000; 16mm from ₦4,800 to ₦11,500; 10mm from ₦3,600 to ₦9,500; and 8mm from ₦2,500 to ₦6,500. By 2024, iron rods within the same size range reached ₦1.6 million per tonne or higher—double their 2023 price. The upward trend continued into 2025, with iron rods and aluminium products reported to have “almost doubled” in cost.
The State of Lagos Housing Market Report, now in its third edition, is published by the Roland Igbinoba Real Foundation for Housing and Urban Development. Earlier editions were released in 2009 and 2016.
