PROPELLERS OF RESIDENTIAL HOUSING CHOICES AMONG URBAN RESIDENTS IN NIGERIA'S SOUTHEASTERN REGION

Abstract Choice of housing by people is a function of many factors, which may be demographic, socio-economic, and environmental factors. Understanding the propellers of housing choice would help bridge the gap between housing consumers’ expectations and housing offerings by developers and the government, thus leading to customer satisfaction. Thus, this study sought to determine the propellers of residents’ choice of housing in Southeastern Nigeria. The specific objectives were to ascertain the extent of the effect of family income, family size, neighbourhood satisfaction, education, neighbourhood safety/security, and neighbourhood decline on residents’ choice of housing in Southeastern Nigeria. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The study population comprised 587,503 parents who reside in selected cities in Southeastern Nigeria. Using survey, primary data was collected from 400 respondents with a structured questionnaire in a 5-point Likert scale format, and analysed using structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results revealed that family income, family size, neighbourhood satisfaction, education, neighbourhood safety/security had significant and positive effects, while neighbourhood decline had a significant and negative effect on residents’ housing choice in Southeastern Nigeria. Therefore, family income, neighbourhood safety/security, neighbourhood satisfaction, family size, neighbourhood decline and education, in this order of relative importance as implied by their path coefficients, are the propellers of housing choice in Southeastern Nigeria. Hence, estate developers, governments and policymakers should prioritize these factors when developing housing programmes.