Land is required for various forms of investment. However, to use land for/as investment, security of title is essential. Security of title is practically achieved through title registration. Primarily, without such title registration, security of investment in land is not guaranteed and therefore investment in land becomes very unattractive and sometimes even impossible. Every investment is fundamentally targeted at the investment yield, hence the need to reconcile the process of securing such an investment. This process is inescapably associated with costs. The effect of such costs on the investment yield becomes imperative. This paper investigated the impact of the total cost of land title registration (direct cost – officially approved fees paid in the cause of title registration + indirect cost- the impact of bureaucratic delays during title registration and the impact of changes in government policies) on property investment yield in Owerri, Imo State. The empirical research methodology was employed while survey research design was adopted for study. Research questions and hypotheses were also formulated to guide the study in consonance with the objectives. Primary data was obtained from a questionnaire administered to forty respondents. These 40 include investors in landed property that are registered with the Imo State Ministry of Lands, Survey and Physical Planning. The study utilized mean scores to answer the research questions and Analysis of variance to test the hypotheses formulated. The hypotheses tested revealed that direct cost of title registration and bureaucracy (indirect) have a significant relationship with property investment yield in Owerri, Imo State; while cost of title registration and changes in policy by government equally showed some significant relationship with property investment yield in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria at 5% level of significance. The empirical findings from data analysis helps us to conclude that there exist a significant relationship between cost of title registration, property investment yields in Owerri, Imo State and changes in government policy. This relationship was observed to be inversely proportional to the yield on property investment in Owerri, Imo state. This paper criticized the registration process of land in Nigeria, which is both slow and expensive and proposes an efficient, simpler, easier and less expensive land registration process that will encourage investment in Nigeria.
Keywords: Cost, Nigeria, Owerri, investment yield, property investment, title registration
