Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors affecting academic performance of real estate students in a developing country like Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach: Data for the study were collected with the aid of questionnaire served on 152 final year real estate students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and Federal University of Technology Akure, in southwestern Nigeria. Data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings: Findings show that the factors relating to academic assessment, parent/family background and teaching methods or techniques have more impact on students’ academic performance, while school and general academic environment had less influence on students’ academic performance. Research limitations/implications: The study complements the body of knowledge regarding the factors influencing real estate students’ academic performance from the point of view of an emerging economy where issues of socioeconomic, academic and training perspectives differ from what obtains in advanced economies. Originality/value: This study is one of the few attempts at establishing factors that influence real estate students’ performance, especially from an emerging economy like Nigeria.@en