Purpose: The study analysed the factors influencing real estate firms' (REFs) decision to adopt virtual reality (VR) technology using the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method. This was done to enhance the practice of real estate agency in Nigeria.Design/methodology/approach: Data were elicited from eight real estate experts. These experts were heads of the agency department of firms that had been in existence for a minimum of five years in the Lagos property market. The data analysed in this study were collected with the aid of a questionnaire.Findings: The result revealed that use intention was influenced by performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation, price value and UB. Also, facilitating conditions, habit and use intention did not influence use behaviour. Overall, six constructs, which include price value (R_i − C_j value = 0.1284), use behaviour (R_i − C_j value = 0.0666), social influence (R_i − C_j value = 0.0583), facilitating conditions (R_i − C_j value = 0.0323), performance expectancy (R_i − C_j value = 0.0196) and effort expectancy (R_i − C_j value = 0.0116), were significant predictors of the factors influencing the decision of REFs to adopt VR. Of these constructs, the R_i − C_j values indicated that price value had the highest causative influence.Practical implications: The result of this study will bring REFs to the consciousness of the factors that could affect their adoption of VR technology. This study will also assist the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers in appropriately enlightening REFs on the integration of VR technology into the agency practice especially at this time when all health protocols and guidelines need to be observed to help flatten the curve of the Covid-19 pandemic.Originality/value: This study is the first to have an insight into the analysis of the factors influencing REFs' decision to adopt VR technology using the DEMATEL method.

Purpose: The importance of education is always underscored without adequate demonstration of skill(s) for practice. Appropriate professional skills guarantees efficient real estate investment decision making and prevents loss of investment fund. The study evaluated, from the perspective of employers of labour, the effort of the government, through students, industrial scheme, at bridging skill gaps in real estate education in Nigeria. Design Methodology/approach: Primary data were collected with the aid of questionnaire served on 270 estate surveying and valuation firms in Lagos state, Nigeria. The descriptive methods of mean and proportion method were used to determine the contribution of government industrial scheme to real estate education in Nigeria. Findings: The result found that through the student industrial scheme, students acquired experience/skill in real estate marketing as well as the art of team work. Originality/Value: The paper is to serve as impetus to policy makers to enhancing the quality of real estate in Nigeria. It will also serve as proof to foreign investors of the quality of Nigerian real estate practitioners to give them efficient service.

Purpose: This study aims to analyse the criteria used in measuring the determinants of the adoption of virtual reality (VR) technology in real estate agency practice in Lagos, with a view to providing information with which the practice can be enhanced.Design/methodology/approach: The data for the study were elicited using a questionnaire which was administered to eight real estate firms (REFs). The firms were those that have been operating in Lagos for at least five years, and the data collected were analysed using the DEMATEL method.Findings: The findings revealed that perceived utility and relative advantage were the most important criteria for determining REFs' performance expectancy with VR technology. The two most important criteria to measure effort expectancy were “perceived ease of use” and complexity. “Subjective norms” was the most important criterion for measuring social influence, while “perceived behavioural control” was the most important criterion to measure facilitating conditions. Under “price value”, output quality was the only significant criterion. Finally, the frequency of use, the actual number of use and the amount of time spent utilising the technology were significant for measuring the REFs' use behaviour.Practical implications: The study offers insights into the criteria that can assist REFs in integrating VR technology into real estate agency practice. The results are also helpful to the Nigerian real estate professional bodies to organise workshop programmes for REFs on the use of VR technology and other disruptive technologies. The results will also serve as a guide for REFs to gain a competitive advantage in this trying time of pandemic and help them measure up to global standards and the expectations of their clients.Originality/value: Before this study, efforts have not been made to study the criteria for measuring the determinants of VR technology adoption in the Nigerian real estate agency practice.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the service quality (SQ) of property managers of shopping complexes in Ibadan with a view to improving management practice.Design/methodology/approach: Primary data were used for the study through questionnaire administration. Ibadan was stratified into five axes using existing major roads where shopping complexes were highly concentrated. From each axis, 33, 65, 48, 64 and 66 shopping complexes were identified (Oyo State Ministry of Land, Housing and Survey, 2017), and the systematic sampling technique (20 percent) was adopted to select 57 out of 276 shopping complexes and 192 (10 percent) out of 1919 occupiers of the shopping complexes in the study area. In total, 157 occupiers responded to the questionnaire, and the data were analyzed using mean ranking and stepwise multiple regression.Findings: This study found that professionalism, tangible, assurance and empathy dimensions of SQ were rated fair, whereas reliability and responsiveness dimensions were rated poor. Also, stepwise multiple regression analysis predicted 78.5 percent overall SQ of property managers, and assurance, professionalism and empathy dimensions contributed significantly to the overall SQ. Hence, reliability and responsiveness dimensions of SQ need to be improved. It is expected that the findings of this study will help property managers to understand the role of various dimensions of SQ for enhanced property management practice.Originality/value: The study is one of the few studies that assessed the SQ of property managers of shopping complex with a view to improving its management practice.

Purpose: Students are the hub of activities in an academic environment, and their satisfaction with the performance of educational facilities cannot be overemphasised. Therefore, this study evaluated the post-occupation of students' halls of residence in Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Nigeria with a view to enhancing effective management of educational facilities.Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 245 students who were selected using simple random sampling technique. The study adopted descriptive statistical tools such as mean, standard deviation and Relative Importance Index (RII); the inferential statistical tools adopted were independent-samples t-test and Kendall Tau's correlation.Findings: The results revealed that both genders were fairly satisfied with physical attributes, indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and social factors; while the female students were also fairly satisfied with the supporting service, the male students were fairly dissatisfied. Also, supporting services and IEQ influenced the levels of satisfaction of both genders.Practical implications: This study provides information which can help the management of the University and other comparative educational institutions in the proper management of students' halls of residence.Originality/value: This study has provided insight into the satisfaction of student occupants with halls of residence based on gender differentiation.

Rural housing development is pivotal to tackling housing deficit in Nigeria. This study examines the challenges on existing housing structure in Ebele community, Benin City, Nigeria. It inquires into the housing finance structure, factors influencing its housing development and the infrastructural needs in the housing sector. It samples 30 residents from each of the five villages in Ebele community of Edo State. Using frequency counts and mean values, the result revealed that a considerable gap exists on the housing performance. The challenges being faced were majorly infrastructural deficits and shortage of capital. Innovative housing finance strategies were essentially lacking. Cultural and ethnic factors, neighbourhood factors, and infrastructural factors were rated the top drivers of housing development in the area. The study concluded that while addressing the drivers of rural housing development and tackling the challenges thereof, it is important to take into consideration the cultural values of the people. An integrated approach to rural housing development could bring about the required balance in housing development in rural and urban areas.