Are you looking for property to rent or buy in Accra or even sell? It helps to know where to find available real estate and to have a fair idea of the costs involved in different parts of the city.

These costs are influenced by several factors including location, size, amenities and proximity to facilities such as malls and hospitals among others. Ghana’s housing sector is highly unregulated and, thus, homeowners and landlords operate within no established framework and set prices as they deem fit contributing to the widening housing deficit in the country.

With an estimated housing deficit ranging between 1.7 and 2 million units, it is important for policymakers and all stakeholders to freely access data that gives an overview of the state of housing in the country. By sharing data it has collated over the years based on transactions on its online platform, meQasa.com aims to help put things in perspective for investors, home seekers, decision-makers and all stakeholders.

meQasa.com has created this useful infographic that gives an overview of the housing sector in the Greater Accra region based on online property search behaviours in 2017.

Take a look at the infographic below.

Highlights from the infographic are summarised below:

1. The average cost of houses for sale over the period range between GH¢449,587 (1 bedroom) to GH¢742,531 (3 bedrooms);
2. Average rent costs in Accra range between GH¢1,266 (1 bedroom) and GH¢6,939 (3 bedrooms);
3. The most expensive Accra neighbourhoods to buy a plot of land are Cantonments (GH¢1.08 million) and East Legon (GH¢1 million) while the cheapest neighbourhoods include Pokuase (GH¢27,000) and Dodowa (GH¢12,000);
4. The value of new developments advertised on meQassa.com in 2017 is estimated at $340 million;
5. The value of properties marked as sold on meQasa.com rose from $227 million in 2016 to $362 million in 2017. This marks a 59% increase over the last year;
6. meQasa.com’s acquisition of rival Jumia House, the launch of its first housing fair and its partnership with MyJoyOnline.com, show the huge potential for marketing real estate;
7. The number of advertisers (agents, developers and homeowners) grew by 45% – 1044 advertisers in 2016 to a total of 1,935 in 2017. The number of paying advertisers on the online platform also increased by over 106%; and
8. Total user sessions or the number of people actively searching for property online (on meQasa.com) increased by 110%.

meQasa remains committed to ensuring property developers, agents and house owners connect with the right prospective buyers, investors and tenants in a bid to curb the widening housing gap. As a property platform recognised for innovation, strong marketing and constant improvements, we are hopeful that this brief overview will aid all parties involved in finding a lasting solution to Ghana’s housing crisis in 2018 and beyond.