A fresh look at the inflation-hedging attributes of residential property investments in emerging markets: evidence from Nigeria

Purpose This study reinvestigates the short-run and long-run inflation-hedging attributes of residential property assets in the Nigerian property market, based on variations in property types and location. Design/methodology/approach Data used for this study comprised the holding period returns of three residential property types, namely bungalow, block of flats and detached house during 1999-2018. These were obtained from property practitioners in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, respectively. The inflation values obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics were split into actual, expected and unexpected components. Fama and Schwert's (1977) ordered least square (OLS) regression was used to assess the short-term inflation hedging efficacy. Afterwards, the long-run link between residential property and inflation was examined using the Johansen and Juselius cointegration test. Findings The results showed that despite the variations in hedging behaviour across property types in the three locations, residential property assets significantly provided protection over actual, expected and unexpected inflation in the short run based on the OLS regression analysis. The result of the Johansen and Juselius cointegration test also established a long-term link between the residential property assets and actual inflation. However, mixed results were found on the link between residential property and expected and unexpected inflation, as some of the assets did not effectively hedge these inflation components in the long run. Practical implications The study implied that the differences in property types and geographic locations are crucial in establishing the short-run and long-run inflation-hedging attributes of residential property assets and should be factored into consideration. Originality/value The paper complements the existing body of knowledge on the inflation-hedging attributes of residential property in emerging markets by determining the effects of variation in house types and geographic differences on the analysis.