ABSTRACT
This research work examined the Effect of High Cost of Building Materials on Property Development in
Makurdi Metropolis, Benue State, Nigeria. The survey research design was used with a population of 362
and a sample of 190 respondents. Data was collected using questionnaire and analyzed using inferential
statistics. The variables of the study were analyzed using simple linear regression while the hypotheses
were tested using the probability value of the regression estimate. The result of the regression analysis
shows that high cost of building materials (HCBM) has a positive effect on property quality in Makurdi
Metropolis, Benue State, Nigeria and the effect is statistically significant (p<0.05) but the effect is not in
line with a priori expectation. This means that a unit increases in high cost of building materials
(HCBM) will result to a corresponding increase in property quality in Makurdi Metropolis, Benue State,
Nigeria by a margin of 42.0 percent. Also, high cost of building materials (HCBM) has a negative effect on
time of delivery (TODL) of developed property in Makurdi Metropolis, Benue State, Nigeria and the effect
is statistically significant (p<0.05) and the effect is in line with a priori expectation. This means that a
unit increases in high cost of building materials (HCBM) will result to a corresponding decrease in time of
property delivery (TODL) in Makurdi Metropolis Benue State, Nigeria by a margin of 35.7 percent. It was
concluded that the construction industry contributes significantly in terms of scale and share in the
development process for both developed and developing countries. It was recommended among others that
in order to help the construction industry, government can improve the exchange rate of the Naira through
concerted effort in fiscal and monetary policies which target broad range of issues ranging from activities
that encourages local production of some of the building material to reduce over dependence on import.
Keywords: Building Material, Cost, Property Development, Delivery time, Benue, Nigeria.
