IDC International Journal May - July 2016 Volume : 3 Issue : 3 ISSN : 2395 3365 (Online) A R T I C L E S 1 DIVERSIFYING VALUATION SKILLS: DISCOUNTED CASH FLOW IMPERATIVES FOR SUSTAINABLE MORTGAGE FINANCE IN AN EMERGING MARKET *Stephen ARO-GORDON *Department of Accounting, Banking and Finance Baze University Abuja, Nigeria stephen.aro-gordon@bazeuniversity.edu.ng ABSTRACT: The paper appraises the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) as a veritable approach to sustainable real property valuation, especially for mortgage financing in a developing economy like Nigeria. Despite the spate of reforms in the Nigerian mortgage sector in recent times, issues bordering on valuation opacity have continued to raise unresolved methodological question in current appraisal practice, among many other challenges plaguing the sector, but research studies are rather sparse on the crucial issue. Available studies have tried to examine the problem from the perspectives of the traditional metrics of ‘cost’, ‘direct comparison’, and ‘income capitalization’, with contributions yielding mixed findings, hence the present article seeks to revisit the issue by using DCF as an alternative methodology. The study demonstrates how deficiency in full and transparent application of pivotal valuation metrics of cash flow, risk, and growth may be contributory to mortgage valuation credibility problem. It is shown that the DCF framework provides useful details of inherent asset value upon which mortgage financing may be optimally anchored. The implications on citizens’ real wealth are highlighted. The imperatives for higher-level disclosure in mortgage valuation and paradigm shift towards discovering “intrinsic” rather than the conventional “market” values are explained. Keywords: Intrinsic value, Housing markets, Model validation, Mortgage finance, Sustainability JEL codes: C58, D46, G12, Q24, R31. About Author: Dr. Stephen Aro-Gordon is a senior lecturer in the Department of Accounting, Banking and Finance at Baze University Abuja, Nigeria. He holds the degrees of BSc Hons. (UNN), MBA (UNILORIN), Ph.D. (UDUS), and he is alumnus of Manchester Business School Senior International Bankers’ Programme, UK (1993). He also holds the Fellowship of Institute of Chartered Management Accountants and he is a member of the International Association for Quantitative Finance (USA). A seasoned academic and administrator with passion for human development, he visited a number of countries to participate and chair academic conferences and he has to his credit more than 30 research papers published in peer-reviewed journal and conference proceedings. He has frequently served in advisory capacity to a number of organizations on economic management and strategy issues and he has won several academic and professional awards in the course of his career spanning more than 30 years. He has also been adjunct faculty at Shri Dharmasthala ManjunatheshwaraInstitute for Management development (SDMIMD) Mysuru, India, the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) and the School of Banking Honours (SBH).