Resolving the data debacle in commercial property: Are property practitioners in opaque markets ready for data sharing and assemblage

Purpose: With a focus on Lagos, Nigeria property market, the purpose of this paper is to examine the willingness of property practitioners towards property data sharing and assemblage with a view to improving accessibility to commercial property data in Nigerian property market. Design/methodology/approach: Primary data were sourced through the use of questionnaire administered on property practitioners (referred as estate surveying and valuation (ESV) firms) in Lagos property market. In total, 190 ESV firms were selected using stratified random sampling based on their geographical location, frequency distribution, percentage, and cross-tabulation were employed for data analysis. Findings: The results showed that majority of the practitioners (68.1 per cent) were willing to share property data among themselves while 52.6 per cent of the practitioners were in support of data assemblage. The result also revealed the higher the experience of the practitioners, the more they are averse to data sharing. It was also revealed that the bigger firm are more averse to data assemblage than the smaller firms. Meanwhile, majority of the practitioners (93.3 per cent) were in support of creation of a central database. Practical implications: The study concluded that without the willingness of practitioners to support data assemblage, the data debacle in property market might not be resolved. Originality/value: The paper is an attempt towards the possibility of creating database of concluded transactions, which will improve accessibility to property data in opaque property market.