Buying property in Ghana as an expat can be a complicated process, however the Ghanaian government is keen to attract foreign investment and aims to make the procedure smoother. The growing number of middle-class Ghanaians is pushing up demand for property, this, combined with an influx of expats is helping to drive the property boom.
Early in 2012 the Ghanaian government made an agreement with the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA) to encourage the growth of private real estate companies to meet the increasing need for private housing.
One of the main challenges facing the property market is the availability of affordable housing, especially at the lower end of the income scale. There is also rising demand at the middle and top brackets of the property market, which are seeing increased interest from local and international developers. Overall, Ghana is estimated to have a shortfall of 1 million housing units.
Despite the efforts of GREDA and the Ghanaian government to increase the availability of affordable housing, the rising level of per capita GDP and the growing number of white collar expatriates still draw developers to the higher end of the market. This has resulted in gated communities taking over the capital, Accra’s, wealthier neighbourhoods.
While this may be good news for expats who can afford high end housing, it goes against what the Ghanaian government is trying to achieve.