Comparative Analysis Of Rental Values Of Residential Properties On Aker Road, Rumuolumeni

Over the past two decades, the Rumuolumeni community in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State has experienced significant urbanization, driven by the establishment of industries, a tertiary institution, and business hubs. This rapid development has increased the demand for residential accommodation of various sizes and typologies to meet the housing needs of the growing population. Consequently, this study examines the trends of 1bedroom and 2 bedroom flats on Aker Road Rumuolumeni from 2019 to 2023 providing insights to guide investors in making informed decisions. Data for this study were collected from estate surveying and valuation firms, landlords, and tenants using well-structured questionnaires. The collected data were analyzed using trend analysis, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and relative importance index (RII). These analytical techniques were employed to examine rental value trends, assess the statistical significance of differences in rental values between one-bedroom and two- bedroom flats in the study area, and rank the factors influencing rental values based on their relative importance. The findings revealed that both flat types experienced slight growth between 2019 and 2020, and the growth spiked up the following year 2021. It was observed that the one bedroom flat recorded the highest growth at 61.03% while 2 bedroom flat recorded highest growth at 59.32%. Analyzing the rental values of the two property types to establish if there is a statistically significant difference in the mean rent paid on 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom flats within the study area from 2019 to 2023, it was observed that there was a statistically significant difference between the mean rents of the two residential property types. The finding further revealed the top 3 factors that impact rental value in the study area as cost of building material (RII 0.86), siting of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (RII 0.82), and good roads (RII 0.80), while the least 2 factors impacting on rental values from the list of 16 identified factors were: green building practice (RII 0.45), income level of tenants (RII 0.49). It was recommended that investors consider the development of more 1 bedroom flats than 2 bedroom flats because the former attracts higher rental growth annually.