Real estate sector picking up in Punjab

Housing developers concentrate on other cities for potential.

LAHORE: With a shift in focus, private developers have now switched priority to semi-urban cities with a massive population size but little know-how of modern lifestyles.

In Punjab, renowned and new housing developers are now concentrating on second-tier cities like Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Multan to harness the potential of real estate development by introducing state-of-the-art gated communities.

Experts have said that this trend is likely to limit the migration of people to cities like Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. Taking that into account, developers have to bring in quality educational institutes, hospitals among other facilities.

“This is the most viable trend, people living in their home towns within their culture will help reduce burden on mega cities,” said Haseeb Gardezi, Chief Executive Officer of Pearl Holdings, a project of Hashoo Group, while talking with The Express Tribune.

Multiple groups, including Hashoo, are working on the idea. The Defence Housing Authority (DHA) has started its project in Gujranwala and is searching for land in Multan to develop another. Citi housing is also another group which is following the footprints of Bahria Town and has developed housing schemes in Sialkot and Gujranwala and it will launch its new project in Faisalabad and Jhelum later.

According to Gardezi, people in far-flung areas of such districts opt for second-tier cities. “For instance, a gated community in Multan attracts people of surrounding cities like Bahawalpur and it is easier for them to shift to Multan rather than Lahore or Karachi,” he said.

The housing demand in urban centres according to World Bank’s report is increasing at an annual rate of 8%. The total shortfall, which in 2009 was recorded at 7.57 million units, has now touched the 10-million mark. Market experts says that total number of houses built every year in Pakistan is somewhere between 0.15 – 0.2 million, whereas the country needs 1 million new houses annually (0.7 million for population growth and 0.3 million for replacing old houses and to cover the existing shortage).

An increase in prices of land consequently affects prices of newly-constructed units. However, prices of complete units in second-tier cities are almost 50% lower if compared to Lahore, said Faisal Idrees, a real estate expert.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2015.

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