Abstract/Summary

The study aims at examining the critical factors influencing the abandonment of housing projects in Osogbo, Nigeria with a view to providing information that could guide real estate investors' decision making. Through preliminary investigation, 138 abandoned housing projects were sighted in the study area. The study purposively distributed questionnaire to 67 owners of abandoned housing projects that were available. However, only 30 questionnaires were properly filled and retrieved for collation and analysis. Relative Importance Index (RII) and Multiple Regression Models were used to determine the interrelationships between housing project abandonment and the factors influencing it. Findings from the study revealed that insufficient funds was the most critical factor influencing housing project abandonment in the study area (RII 0.892), while change of project scope ranked the least critical factor (RII 0.725). The regression analysis carried out indicated a high positive correlation of 0.995 between all the variables revealing that the overall model is statistically significant, [F (19, 10) = 53.956, P = 0.000]. It was recommended among others that before prospective real estate investors venture into the construction of desired housing projects, it is imperative that sufficient funds be generated to cater for the proposed project. Similarly, clients should avoid changing the scope of the project in the middle of the housing project work. This could go a long way in reducing housing project abandonment in the study area.