How Ebola Virus Can Affect Real Estate Opportunities

It is no longer news that the deadly and dreaded Ebola virus has been spotted in the nation, already killing its Liberian harbinger, Patrick Sawyer and the Matron who treated him in a Lagos Hospital. There is considerable panic among Lagosians especially as everyone is beginning to take extra precautions in their hygiene and in their inter-personal relationship with people, since Ebola is a contact disease. Beyond these precautions, we ought to also consider what this dreaded virus means for our nation, our economy, especially in the real estate sector.

The decision of the Lagos state government to give incentives to medical workers who volunteer to treat Ebola patients shows how much people dread this disease…even medical workers. Such is the case for those who live around places where the Ebola virus has been detected, or where Ebola patients are being isolated. People will begin to migrate en-masse away from those places and as such lead to a drastic downfall of real estate values.

A deserted community

An outbreak of this fatal disease will even do more harm to the state or country as a whole, as the death of many will cause many others to find other places of abode, foreign investors will no longer see the nation as a fertile ground, other countries might withdraw their citizens from the nation, and the government may abandon other sectors to focus on this disease – this of course leads to total breakdown of economic activities.

It then becomes pertinent for every hand to be on deck and in unison to fight against the outbreak of this deadly disease. Not just for the sake of our economy, or real estate industry, but importantly for the sake of the lives of people who may come in contact with this disease if unchecked.