ASSESSMENT OF MORTGAGE FINANCE EFFECTIVENESS TO REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT IN LAGOS METROPOLIS, NIGERIA

 Mortgage finance constitutes one of the major pillars of the housing delivery system. Indeed, without a well-organized and efficient housing finance mechanism, the goal of a housing development policy will be largely unattainable. While efforts have been made in the literature to discuss the housing and the importance of housing and its finance as a vital component of the national economy, less focus was on the assessment of the current mortgage finance in term of its effectiveness. The focus of this study is therefore to assess the effectiveness of mortgage financing vibrancy, vitality as well as its operational strength on the housing finance system in the Metropolitan Lagos. Hence, it is against this background that well-structured questionnaires were administered on officials and customers of some Primary Mortgage Institutions and regulators of mortgage financial sector within the metropolitan Lagos. Personal interviews were also conducted on some mortgage loan applicants, whose applications are yet to be approved. Out of 160 questionnaires that were distributed, 115 (representing 72% response rate) were retrieved, which formed the basis of analysis for this study. Likert scale measurement as well as descriptive and inferential statistical tools was adopted. The results showed amongst other things that Nigeria's mortgage system is underdeveloped and ill-equipped to mobilise and channel saving to housing sector, as major sources of housing finance in Nigeria is still majorly generated through alternative means of housing financing, this is because mortgage institutions are bedevilled with shortage of loan-able funds due to low contribution to the fund. Only 11.2% of applications for a mortgage loan were approved. Amongst other suggestions made for an improved and effective mortgage system is the review of enabling laws and overhauling of mechanisms for continuous flow of funds to be guaranteed, as well as momentous restructuring of the mortgage finance system to sufficiently tackle the enormity of finance shortage being experienced in Nigeria’s housing sector, especially in the urban milieu.