If you have been shopping for a flat in Lekki, Ajah or the mainland lately and everything feels more expensive than last year, you are not imagining it. Late August reporting from Nairametrics captured what developers, analysts and quantity surveyors across Lagos have been saying quietly for months: land, materials, labour and infrastructure costs are climbing, and those costs are increasingly being passed on to buyers and tenants.
This is not a vague “market is tough” complaint. It is a concrete cost stack that shows up in listing prices and annual rents.
What the experts are saying
Real estate investment analyst Olabisi Odusanya told Nairametrics that land and construction materials are the two dominant drivers. Land values, she said, have more than doubled in several parts of Lagos in recent years, while material costs have moved with inflation since 2020.
Bright Okereke of Flinx Holding Co. put a number on cement: roughly ₦8,000 a bag last year to almost ₦15,000 now. Quantity surveyor Magbo Henry Ikechukwu similarly placed cement in the ₦12,500–₦15,000 range depending on supplier and location, with reinforcement steel now often ₦1 million to ₦1.5 million per tonne. Current construction costs, he estimated, sit around ₦350,000 to ₦400,000 per square metre — and can climb toward ₦450,000 depending on specifications and site conditions.
Financing matters too, but it is not the whole story. Many residential projects run on equity, private capital, joint ventures or off-plan sales rather than bank loans. Where debt is used, however, interest rates of 23% and above get baked into the selling price. Exchange-rate pressure still hits imported inputs: steel, aluminium, electrical and plumbing fittings.
Costs that sit outside the building itself
Buyers often focus on finishes and location. Developers also carry pre-development design and professional fees; approvals and statutory charges (including planning, building control, safety and materials testing); marketing, agency commissions and project management; and infrastructure they may have to provide themselves — roads, drainage, power, water, sewage — when government services are thin on site.
Okereke told Nairametrics that approval-related costs on some projects are approaching about 30% of the total cost of running a building. Delays in documentation and title registration stretch timelines further: materials can reprice while a project sits waiting, and buyers who need mortgages can be stuck if titles are still being processed after units have sold.
Victoria Island land, according to Estate Intel figures cited in the same reporting, has averaged about ₦3.05 million per square metre — a reminder of how expensive prime sites have become before a single foundation is poured.
How the market is adapting
Developers are responding in ways buyers will recognise on the ground: smaller unit sizes and more compact layouts; relocating projects to cheaper land corridors; phased development and off-plan sales to manage cash flow; and adjusting finishes (local alternatives instead of imported fittings) without always dropping quality standards.
Okereke noted that apartments his company once sold for about ₦5–7 million (and in some cases ₦10–30 million) around 2021 can now go for about ₦50–60 million. That is not a single-factor spike; it is the cumulative effect of land, materials, labour and process costs.
On the demand side, a GTI Investment Group housing forum cited in related coverage put Lagos’s annual housing capital gap at about ₦6 trillion, with rents in some cases rising far faster than wages and many households spending 60–70% of income on rent. The state’s housing deficit was put at about 3.4 million units in 2025. Put simply: supply is expensive to produce, and a large share of households are already stretched.
What this means if you are buying or renting
1. Ask what you are paying for. A higher asking price may reflect land and infrastructure the developer had to fund privately — or it may just be optimistic pricing. Compare like-for-like unit size, location and finishing quality, not headline price alone.
2. Watch title and approval timelines. If a project is selling fast while the title is still being processed, mortgage-backed buyers can lose months. Confirm documentation status before you commit serious deposits.
3. Off-plan needs clearer risk sharing. Fixed off-plan prices protect the buyer when materials jump mid-build — but they also push developers to pad contingencies up front. Read escalation and delivery clauses carefully.
4. Affordability is a location decision. As developers chase cheaper land, emerging corridors can offer better value — if drainage, access roads and flood risk stack up. Due diligence on the street still matters as much as the brochure.
5. Renters should budget for pass-through. Where landlords face higher acquisition or rebuild costs, renewal negotiations get tougher. Start early, know comparable rents on your street, and decide your walk-away number before emotions take over.
The Planwell Homes take
Rising build costs do not mean “never buy.” They mean buy with eyes open. At Planwell Homes we walk clients through verified title, realistic neighbourhood comparisons, and the full cost of ownership — not just the figure on the listing. Whether you are purchasing outright, taking a rental, or weighing an off-plan opportunity, the goal is the same: a transaction that still makes sense after the keys change hands.
Talk to the Planwell Homes team at Plot 15, RockDrive off Durosimi, Lekki Phase 1, Eti-Osa LGA, Lagos (phone: +234 906 308 1858) — or reach us through our verified Nigeria Property Centre agency profile — and we will help you pressure-test the numbers before you commit.
Source: Nairametrics, “Lagos developers lament rising costs, warn buyers and tenants will pay more,” 27 August 2026. Related context: GTI Investment Group housing capital-gap findings as reported in national coverage, and Estate Intel land-price figures cited therein.
