What’s happening in Islamabad: A look at I-12 and I-16

Islamabad’s realty has started to expand monumentally, and the Capital Development Authority is on top of it to ensure a continuous flow of development projects throughout. The city has been divided into four zones, therefore, a more zonal approach is taken to understand the real estate market there.

In Zone 1, much of the market is already saturated, except for a few projects. Sectors I-12 and I-16 have been greatly talked about in terms of development and revenue prospects. According to search Trends at Zameen.com, in I-16, three regions are a popular site, I-12/2, I-16/4, and I-16/1. On the other hand, I-12 hasn’t seen much activity because of low development in the area.

We talked to realty experts in these areas, and according to Jazab Malik of Sigma Properties, development that was carried out earlier by CDA in I-12 hasn’t been upgraded. Despite this, he added, people are eager to invest in the area. He has observed that more genuine buyers than investors want to invest here. This sector offers properties of 5- and 8- marla, and according to Malik, 7- marla is more preferred by both buyers and investors. He also highlighted that possession is available, because of which more people prefer buying property here.

Sufyan Abbas of Shafique Estate further added on this, and said that the development carried out by CDA in I-12 has been of main roads etc, however, work on constructing roads remains to be done. He has observed that more buying is seen in residential property; residential plots and flats. He further added that people prefer 5-marla plots more because of their price competitive, a view not shared by Malik.

Abbas and Malik are of the view that the market will see an influx of buyers and investors in about eight to ten months. However, they are both of the view that despite this, the number of genuine buyers in the area remains intact.

According to another realtor from I-16, market activity has been extremely slow in the last couple of months. However, he added that genuine buyers are still interested in investing. In his opinion, I-16 is doing much better than I-12, and will swing again in a couple of months. Commenting on the development of the sector, he said that the prospects for it are bright and that work will start soon enough. He is optimistic that as soon as work resumes, property prices will pick up and more buying would ensue.

From this it can be understood that for property prices to increase, development has to be initiated by Capital Development Authority first. From the above data of search Trends on I-16 quoted, it can be seen that the sectors which are appearing as most searched, are those that have good infrastructural development in place and offer amenities needed for a good lifestyle. This data was also covered by our expert realtors.

This blog was written specifically for those who are curious about property prices in sectors I-12 and I-16. If you found this helpful, please comment below. For further information, you can also head on to our Forum.