Property Rights Management and Performance of Real Estate Firms in Rivers State

This study aimed to assess Property Rights Management and its contribution to the Performance of Real Estate firms in Rivers State by examining the relationship between the dimensions of Property Rights Management (property ownership rights, property use rights, and property transferability rights) and performance (customer/stakeholder satisfaction, brand reputation and quality and operational excellence) of real estate firms while investigating the moderating effect of Government policies on this relationship. The survey research design was adopted for the study and a sample of 90 real estate firms was derived at from the population of 117 registered real estate firms in Rivers State. Primary data for the study was collected from 190 respondents through structured questionnaire and analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistical techniques using Spearman’s Correlation Coefficient to test the Hypotheses, the reliability of the study’s latent variables was evaluated yielding Cronbach Alpha coefficient ranging from 0.655 to 0.802 indicating good reliability. Results from Analysis revealed significant relationships exist between Property Rights Management (Ownership, Use and Transferability) and Performance of Real Estate Firms (rho= 0.031, 0.019,0.029), (rho = 0.151,0.058,0.301), (rho = .0.015,0.243, 0.453). Also results show that Government policy has a weak moderating effect on the relationship between Property rights management and Performance of Real estate firms in Rivers State. The study recommends that perceptions on concerns relating with Land Use Act, housing and tax policies, security need to be addressed in order to guide policymakers in enhancing policy effectiveness and fostering a more supportive environment for real estate activities in the region. In addition, it is recommended that addressing the negative impact of land rights disputes on operations through policy improvements, enhanced technological systems, and better dispute resolution mechanisms could improve the overall perception and efficiency of property transferability rights, thereby supporting more secure and streamlined property transactions. Keywords: Property Rights, Firm Performance, Real Estate Firms, Government Policy.