#288 Nigeria & Lagos Real Estate Outlook: Infrastructure, Luxury, Mortgages, and How to Buy Safely | Akin Opatola

Meet Akin Opatola in person at the FIABCI Austria World Congress on June 8th 2026 in Vienna: https://www.worldcongress2026.com/This time we interviewed Akin Opatola, a Nigerian chartered surveyor, property valuer, internationally accredited mediator, real estate coach, and founder of boutique brokerage Olawale Jordan Company, who also serves as President of FIABCI Nigeria. Akin shares how he moved from low-paying early real estate work to 13 years in banking for stability, then returned to real estate as his “first love,” building a customer-centric firm focused on brokerage, valuation, and investment advisory. He explains Lagos and Nigeria’s dynamic market drivers—rapid urbanization, a young population, major infrastructure projects, and retail/hospitality growth—alongside challenges like an 18 million housing shortfall and very limited mortgages. He outlines recent mortgage improvements, Nigeria’s banking recapitalization and foreign bank presence, key Lagos submarkets and price ranges, the importance of title due diligence for buyers, and ongoing efforts to improve regulation and real estate data transparency.00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro01:42 Akin’s Background and FIABCI02:44 From Banking Back to Real Estate04:27 Building Olawale Jordan Co05:27 Customer Experience Playbook07:37 Local vs Diaspora Clients09:58 Why Lagos Is a Hot Market14:03 Housing Gap and Mortgages18:52 Nigeria’s Banking Boom22:06 Lagos Neighborhoods and Trends26:44 Grade A Office Rents27:53 Luxury Homes Pricing30:24 Retail Mall Boom31:30 Airbnb and Dirty December33:40 Infrastructure and Transit36:23 Buying Process Basics37:43 Titles and Due Diligence41:07 Regulation and Data Gaps46:21 FIABCI Vienna Preview50:23 Wrap Up and ContactContact Information of Akin Opatola:LinkedIn:⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/akinopatola/⁠Olawale Jordan Company:⁠https://olawalejordancompany.com/about-us/⁠