Karachi emerges leader as real estate sector shines

Lahore, Islamabad follow close with impressive growth in 2015


Shahram Haq January 13, 2016
Lahore, Islamabad follow close with impressive growth in 2015. PHOTO: REUTERS

LAHORE: Karachi’s improved law and order situation has crowned it a leader in terms of real estate prices as the city was flooded with an unprecedented demand in 2015.

Real estate prosperity was not limited to Karachi, although effects were profound in the mega city. Lahore and Islamabad also saw prices jump as investors seemed eager to cash in on promises of development schemes and projects.

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According to a report released by Zameen.com, a real estate portal, 2015 proved to be an exceptional year for Pakistan’s real estate sector. Improved economic stability, coupled with a better security situation, helped the confidence of real estate investors.

Lahore

In Lahore, Defence Housing Authority (DHA) failed to attract buyers, as prices remained stagnant in 2015. The average price of 1-kanal plots stood at Rs14.9 million, a 0.29% decrease from last year.

On the other hand, prices for 1-kanal plots in Bahria Town increased by an impressive 13.91%, bringing the average up to Rs1.13 million. Despite the possibility of Lahore Ring Road (LRR)’s southern route cutting through the locality still being a widely discussed topic, it seems that investors are still optimistic.

LDA Avenue I, a locality that enjoys a better address than many other societies in southern Lahore, could not post extraordinary numbers either. However, it did witness moderate growth. The prices of 1-kanal plots shot up by 9.06%, pushing the average price up to Rs9.63 million.

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Islamabad

The federal capital’s Sector F-11 posted noteworthy numbers in 2015, as rates of 1-kanal plots hiked by a healthy 15.99%. This was quite an improvement from 2014, which brought the average price of these plots to Rs52 million.

While DHA Islamabad posted a moderate growth of 9.39%, pushing the average price of 1-kanal plots to Rs12.5 million, Bahria Town remained stagnant. The locality managed to post a 2.63% rise and the average price of plots remained almost the same - Rs11.9 million. Many believe that it was probably Bahria Enclave II’s downfall that terminated any major spikes.

Karachi

Karachi’s property market saw meteoric growth in 2015.

While most localities in the city of lights flaunted impressive numbers, just Bahria Town Karachi marched in the other direction by registering a 9.74% plunge for the 500 square-yard plot category. According to Zameen.com, at the end of the year, the average price stood at Rs5.8 million.

Real estate: Karachi and Islamabad markets record modest gains

Both DHA Karachi and Gulshan-e-Iqbal performed well. Compared to 2014, these societies saw noteworthy growth and managed to increase investor interest. DHA posted a 15.87% rise, bringing the average rate of 500 square-yard plots up to Rs37 million, while Gulshan-e-Iqbal registered a whopping 19.56% rise, pushing the average up to Rs24.6 million.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14th, 2016.

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COMMENTS (6)

Asad Shairani | 8 years ago | Reply Bring the property investors (read hoarders) into the tax net and start asking them the source of the tens of millions, and you'll see the prices falling back to sane levels. Property is the haven for black money, hence the "demand".
Ali S | 8 years ago | Reply Bad news for the poor people of Karachi, who will now keep getting pushed out of the city and with the total absence of a functioning public transport system will be forced to spend hours commuting to work each day. In the rest of the world, low-income districts are near the city centre so the poor can go to work easily while the rich live outside in the suburbs since they have their own transport - in Pakistan it's the opposite, and the worst cases are here in Karachi. While the rising real estate prices are good news for rich investors, Karachi urgently needs land use reform to prevent land mafia and china cutting from worsening the situation even more.
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