FLASHBACK: Here's why you should consider real estate outside of city centres

In making the decision to acquire a property, it is important to understand the dynamics and the kinds of things to note in order to make the right choice.

This article from 2021 highlights some of the reasons it is important to consider acquiring properties outside the city centres.

Read the full story originally published on June 4, 2021, by Cyril Tetteh, Contributor

One of my favourite quotes in Real Estate is by William Penn Adair. He says, “Find out where the people are going and buy the land before they get there.”

This quote resonates with me in so many ways and inspires my constant admonishing of clients, especially the middle class and below to consider acquiring properties outside of the main city centres like Accra, Kumasi, Tamale, and Takoradi and consider the outskirts and suburban areas.

The reason is that these areas are the future of the country and of the real estate boom. Today they may seem unattractive as compared to the big cities, but tomorrow they will become as valuable as the prime properties in the city centres of today.

Let’s face it, the very ideal properties in the city centres today are actually for very high-income earners and big investors because they can afford them and more importantly, maintain them.

So do not be worried when you hear about the huge cost of the properties in Accra, Kumasi, and Takoradi. Because the sub-urban constitutes a larger portion of the housing deficit in housing and industrial Real Estate in Ghana.

The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) projected about six years back that Ghana’s housing deficit will hit about two million even before 2020. The Executive Secretary of the Ghana Real Estates Developers Association (GREDA), Mr. Samuel Amegayibor, in an interview with Business Day Ghana in 2017 believed the figure of the GSS is modest. He projected the housing deficit for 2020 to be about 5.7 million.

He went on to add that the country will have to construct over 100,000 units annually to reduce the deficit to acceptable proportions.

This deficit is not just for city dwellers, but largely for sub-urban areas where there is potential for expansion, unlike the major cities that are already congested.

To this end, believe me when I tell you that it is a good decision to plan your life; irrespective of which stage of life you are in; with the consideration of settling or acquiring properties out of the cities now, before it is too late.

About two decades ago, areas like Malam, Weija, Kasoa, Krokrobite etc towards Central Region; Adenta; Oyibi, Oyarifa, Teiman towards, Eastern region; Mataheko, Gbetsile, Afienya, Community 20 to 25 and Dawhenya towards Volta Region used to be outskirts of Major cities, but today they have almost become cities.

At the time, people were acquiring land there, it looked undesirable, but today properties in those areas are very costly. Even if you do not want to go to other regional capitals and districts, you can lurk around the outskirts of the major cities to take advantage of the two worlds; city and sub-urban.

Do not also discount the potential of other regional capitals and district capitals that are moving towards serious urbanisation; like Koforidua, Ho, Sunyani, Nkawkaw, Dodowa, Akropong, Nsawam, etc.

Properties in these areas have the propensity to appreciate in value in a short time as the area expands towards urbanisation.

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