Real estate: Price increase slows down in third quarter

Expert terms it correction rather than impact of political instability

LAHORE: The third quarter of the current calendar year has not only proved to be tough for the country’s economy, but also for the real estate sector that has struggled with sluggish activity and price trends.

“A common expectation throughout the quarter was that the disturbances in the political landscape would take a sizeable toll on the market, but the numbers say otherwise,” said Zeeshan Ali Khan, an expert in property matters and CEO of real estate portal, zameen.com, in a press release on Wednesday.

According to statistics, average prices of a one-kanal plot in Lahore Cantt fell 4.32% in the third quarter compared to a rise of 12.61% in the previous quarter. Elsewhere in Lahore, DHA had another uneventful quarter as prices of one-kanal plots rose just 2.74%, lower than the increase of 3.77% in the second quarter.

Bahria Town Lahore, which also had a flat year so far apart from a drop in March, saw a 2.65% rise in the average value of one-kanal plots in the third quarter, down slightly from the increase of 3.08% in the second quarter.

In the July-September quarter, prices of one-kanal plots went up a healthy 11.91%, though it was less than the rise of 16.11% recorded in the previous quarter.

After a significant increase of 21.88% in prices in the first quarter, Sector F-11 experienced lacklustre activity because of the correction in the market. In the second quarter, prices of one-kanal plots came down 5.55% and dropped a further 5.89% in the next quarter to reach close to the level where they were at the start of the year.

Sector E-11, however, bounced back from a disappointing second quarter when one-kanal plots lost nearly 5% of their value. Prices rose 14.57% by the end of the third quarter.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2014.