Housing in Accra, Ghana?

Hi, im a property developer from Denmark. Ive lived in Accra Ghana for the past 5 years and now have some degree of experience of the property marked in Accra.

The main areas are Airport residential, Labone, Osu and Spintex and East Legon. Most families prefere to stay in East legon or spintex. Those areas are nice, and you can find a decent house there for 1000 USD a month and up.

The main issue with those areas, in my opinion, is that its quite far from the main areas, like Osu and Labardi (the beach), so you need 45 minutes to an hour every time you want to drive to the center or beach; and even more if its rush hour.

Airport residential is one of the most perstigous areas of Accra, and you can find some really nice houses there. The area is pretty safe and close to the airport. On the negative side, prices are usually really high, and start from 3000 USD and up, and the areas are in the midst of all the traffic - so no matter where you want to go from there you will find yourself in Traffic.

Labone is a nice and quiet residential area close to both the beach and the main area of Osu where all the bars and reasturants are located. I personally really like Labone, my only con about this area is that the prices are a bit on the high side.

Prices starts from 2000 USD and up for a month, tho, it should be possible to find an apartment for less. Osu is Accras Manhatten or Oxfordstreet. I would mostly recomend this area for younger people who like going out and don't mind the sound of music from open bars and resaturants in the area. It is possible to find a quiet area of Osu tho. Its not easy to find a house here but, there are many apartments in the area and they go from 1500 USD and up of for  2-bedroom apartment.

I personally perfer the beach area of Labardi and South L.A Estates. Coming from Europe the sea is always important, while the Local ghanians looks at the beach area as something negative, Is find it the best area. It's very difficult to find something nice in Labardi thou, if you're willing to stay in something low range you can find something really cheap there.

South L.A is were I have my own apartments. Only steps from the beach and minutes from Osu, it's nicely located in a quiet area near a big hospital. The apartments have sea view and are all furnished with air con, 42" LCD tvs, fridges, washing machine ect. Private parking, security guard and water tanks and more. A big common balcony for private parties. Prices start from 1400 USD a month - feel free to ask me on my email Borregaardchristian@hotmail.com! Greetings Christian!

Hi again, I want to give a small update about the real estate market in accra and the situation about Accra in general. First of all I would like to talk about the increase in crime. Crime and specially armed robberies has be one the increase over the past few years and even though the police has now set up road blocks on most major roads in the night, lots of robberies are still going on. The government fails to talk about it but I guess they don't want any negative talk about the country. I just hope the situation will become better. I advice all axpates to get a place with 24h security, but it actually common in most upscale residents by now. Another problem is water shortage in many parts of Accra. Some places donthave water for weeks, so make sure that your residence has a water storage tanks. Other than that, I would say most from my previous article from 2012 is still true or thought the prices has increased by by between 20 to 50% since then. lastly, I would recommend new arrivals to hold on to their foreign currency, cos euros and dollars are hard to come by these days. Cis of the very high inflation at the moment and the devaluation of the cedis, the government is trying to stop people from using foreign currency. ? kind regards Christian borregaard borregaardchristian@hotmail.com

I would also give a few advice about buying property in Ghana. before even considering buying a property in Ghana its important to know that foreign residents can't own property in Ghana but only lease it for up to 50 years. Secondly I would advice people to get a lawyer if they are to buy an expensive property. He will change between 5 to 10% in commission but you can usually negotiate it down to 3% if the amount is large. Better safe than sorry. He will make sure the deed is valid and that you buy from the right people. Once you buy the property or lease it, be prepared to wait month if not years for your deed to be ready. Just hope you will not have any issues in that period cos without a deed you don't stand strong against a local if it comes to court or worse. prices on apartments varies from a few hundred thousand to millions of us dollars. IF you use an agent, they will not inform you about the commission in till after the deal, so be prepared to shell another 3 to 5 % for him. To be sure, ask him how much before you buy the property and negotiate the commission if possible . Be very careful though, scams are common and if it looks too good to be true, it usually is... Kind regards Christian borregaard

Thanks for the info about housing. I seem to have heard a little about the crime when I was there in 2011.

Hi there, There is no need to live in the most expensive areas, like Airport etc, as you will still be exposed to everyday life in Accra, when you move around. You can save money, lots of money, by living in other areas, with motorway access into town(20-30 mins), such as Kwabenya, Haatso, Achimota...The rents charged in the typical 'expat' areas are extortionate...and not worth it at all. A pleasant house, in a regular neighbourhood, is just as safe, and you have a bore hole for water, and a generator when the light goes off, which it often does! Good luck Legassi Gardens legassigardens@hotmail.com www.legassigardens.com

In response to the comment above, I would say that yes, it's much cheaper to stay out side the prime areas and you can often rent a house for only 500 usd a month paid one year in advance. But I disagree one the points that it's just as safe. I use the live in achimota and is far more prone to armed robberies due to lesser police patrols at night compared to prime areas. Also the response time in case of an emergency is far longer, that is if they show up at all lol. Further more, it stated that the transport time from these areas that the city center in only 20-30 min but in my point of view, it's a best case scenario, tryand get there on a Friday morning or afternoon and you will find yourself spending hours in traffic. Some times the power can go for days without being restored, so yes you have a generator but it cost you 50 usd a day to run it in petrol plus maintenance cost... Don't forget, once you paid one year advance rent, your stuck there and it can end up becoming a costly affair or thought the offer looked cheap from the beginning...