An assessment of the causes and effects of abandonment ofdevelopment projects on real property values in Nigeria

The prevalent and incessant abandonment of development projects are alarming that it creates several negativeeffects to real property values, as well as, to the owners, residents, the built environment and the economy as a whole.The purpose of this paper is to investigate and determined the various causes of abandoning development projects and theeffects of such causes on real properties and its values in Nigeria. This paper utilized the quantitative research approachwith Likert Scale questionnaire design of 213 (Nr) questionnaires. 145 (Nr) questionnaires were completed and retrievedfrom the respondents, representing a response rate of 68.0%.The analysis utilized the Relative Importance Index (R.I.I.) method and the results are presented in tabular form.The findings confirms that at least 22 factors were the causes of development projects abandonment in Nigeria with mostincluding payment remittance Delay, lack of adequate fund allocation, leadership instability, death of theinvestor/client/owner, inconsistence in government policies, improper project planning and design, improper projectcosting, land disputes/legal issues, changes in investment purpose, etc.Further, the findings reveal that at least eight (8) effects on real property and its values, and these include;real properties total value reduction, total income receivable from the real property reduction, becomes a disappointingthing to the owner and the populace, increasing effects of environmental issues to the real properties and the builtenvironment, a reduction in the motivation to attracting investment in real properties, waste of financial and materialresources, etc. The reflection is that allocating reasonable finance, developing appropriate and effective implementationplans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting on development project activities by key actors should enhance in resolvingthese development projects abandonment causes and effects on real properties and its values in the economy