Islamabad: The World Bank Group (WB) stated that Pakistan can generate USD 3.8 billion in the mortgage finance market to serve 0.5 million customers in need of affordable housing units, according to a news story published in the leading newspaper on August 11.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) in a report ‘Pakistan Housing Finance, Is there a business case for financial institutions?’ mentioned that the demand for housing units from the low-income segment is high in the country. Despite the high demand, only 1% of the housing supply caters to the 68% of the population that earns up to USD 188 per month.
Moreover, the report highlighted that most of the housing supply targets the privileged class in line with affordability and commercial viability. As per the details, 56% of the housing units cater to the 12% of the population earning more than USD 625 in a month. The report stated that housing finance has the potential to expand in the country.
Reportedly, the financial institutions are restricted to Tier-1 cities for mortgage finance products despite a low national mortgage-to-GDP ratio. According to the report, mortgage finance can be extended to 26 cities with the proper systems, products, and funding. In this way, home financing can reach 500,000 additional clients from different income groups.
Furthermore, the report highlighted challenges in the housing sector including issues with land titling, lack of affordable housing supply, limited medium-to-long-term funding, registration, administration, record-keeping, limited capacity of financial institutions to offer housing finance, and nascent capital markets for raising long-term funding.
Iqra holds BS in International Relations and is passionate about writing engaging content on trending real estate topics. When not working, she is either spending time with family, shopping, or discussing shows & movies.
