**4.3 Economic challenges**

Economic instability implies higher cost of living in developing countries like Nigeria, financing of housing development is a major challenge. One of the numerous reasons is that access to housing credit; mortgage or loans are associated with to high interest rates and collateral guarantees which are beyond the reach of majority of the citizens. Empirical data around the globe highlights Nigeria's homeownership rate in urban areas is around 10% compared to 97% for Romania; 74% for Brazil; and 62% for South Africa [31].
