Challenges of conducting market research during project appraisals of real estate investment

Real estate investments are known for requiring huge capital outlay thereby making prospective investors interested in understanding the risk and possible return from their investment. The risk and return attributed to the investments can only be revealed through conducting project appraisals. Unfortunately, the project appraisals of real estate investment are tainted with numerous inaccuracies and discrepancies. These inaccuracies have been attributed to poor market research conducted by Estate Surveyors and valuers. Therefore, this study appraises the challenges of conducting market research during project appraisal of real estate investment. The study adopted convenience sampling for administering the questionnaire to Estate Surveyors and Valuers in Lagos metropolis. A total of 56 questionnaires were obtained from the professionals out of 70 that were distributed. The data were analysed with statistical package for social science (SPSS version 20), using, mean score and Kruskal Wallis test. The study discovered that the challenges faced by the Estate Surveyor in conducting market research are pressure from their clients to deliver the appraisal report and difficulty in sourcing information. The study recommends that a data bank should be created to facilitate the ease of information sourcing. The study contributes towards improving the quality of project appraisal in the country.