Genuine buyers seem to be keeping the market alive throughout the country. In Lahore, they helped Phases VII, VIII and IX saw some activity with a 0.76% increase against 1-kanal plots and 0.82% against 10-marla plots.
Bahria Town and Bahria Orchard continued their downward trends – although price drops here have slowed down as compared to previous months. Genuine buyers are active in Orchard, but because of the exit of short-term investors, prices are continuing to fall here.
DHA Islamabad owes its stable trends to genuine buyers, and the same is the case for Bahria Town Islamabad. Both the localities saw some activity in the otherwise dull capital market because of people looking to build homes. Sector B-17 registered moderate growth of 1.39% and 2.49% for 1-kanal and 10-marla plots, respectively. Sectors E-11 and F-11 remained stable.
In terms of Karachi, the market favoured Bahria Town Karachi (BTK) over DHA Karachi and DHA City Karachi (DCK). BTK’s moderate growth brought prices up by 1.61% and 1.03% for 500-yard2 and 250-yard2 plots, respectively.
Gulshan-e-Iqbal’s property did not experience any major price fluctuations in August.
Gujranwala saw Master City improve prices by 1.40% and 1.69% for 1-kanal and 10-marla plots. Despite staying stable in August, Citi Housing is set for some big improvements in the coming months.
DC Colony lost the momentum it had gained in the last two months after prices once again cooled during August. Unless any practical developments take place here, it will continue to see unfavourable trends.
Prices for files in DHA Gujranwala also saw a drop because of a lack of development. However, the promising project is expected to pick up speed in the coming few months.
LAHORE
In Lahore, DHA’s first five phases saw stability with only mild dips in prices. Phases VII, VII and IX saw prices go up by 0.76% against 1-kanal plots and 0.82% against 10-marla plots. More specifically, Prism 9 did not see too much activity, while Phase VII saw some increase in prices. Phase VII saw activity because of genuine buyers but remained largely stable.
August was not much different from July when it comes to Bahria Town. It continued to drop, albeit at a slower pace. Prices went down by 0.41% for 10-marla plots and 0.27% for 1-kanal options. Bahria Orchard seems to be coming to a stable point after falling the last few months.
LDA Avenue I saw the prices of 10-marla plots fall by 1.11%. At the same time, despite falling slightly by 0.29% the prices of 1-kanal plots remained stable. Currently Blocks A and B are the main places where genuine buyers are eyeing 1-kanal plots, whereas Blocks J and M offer 10-marla options.
Wapda Town continued the stable trend it’s been following throughout this year with 0.43% increase in the prices of 1-kanal plots and 0.19% increase in the prices of 10-marla options.
Islamabad
Genuine buyers kept DHA Islamabad slightly active, even though the market for the locality remained somewhat slow. Phase II experienced mild dips in prices and Phase VI clung to stability. Phase III and V are seeing more action than the other areas – Phase III more so because army officers have been given allotments here during August.
Bahria Town has been performing well over the last few months in Islamabad’s otherwise dull market. This was largely due to the growth that Bahria Enclave experienced. In August, prices stuck to stability with a 0.85% and 0.91% increase for 1-kanal and 10-marla plots, respectively. Wherever and whenever possession is handed over in the blocks under development prices will see a jump in the coming months.
One-kanal plots grew by 1.39% and 10-marla plots saw a price hike of 2.49%, in Sector B-17. This moderate growth is a result of both genuine buyers and investors that are active in the locality. People looking to build homes have taken the lead in terms of activity, however.
Gulberg Residencia saw a rise in prices some time ago because of infrastructural developments taking place near it. However, August was particularly slow for the locality as it witnessed moderate drops of 2.80% and 1.83% for 1-kanal and 10-marla plots.
Sectors E-11 and F-11 continued to remain stable during the month.
Karachi
Pakistan’s financial capital experienced a cool August with market activity popping up in BTK. Bahria Paradise has helped propel prices upwards, and BTK continued its impressive growth from earlier this year in the same stride, albeit at a more modest pace with 1.61% and 1.03% moderate jumps in the prices of 500-yard2 and 250-yard2 plots, respectively.
DHA Karachi experienced a slight drop in prices. The area has been largely stable given its saturation levels, but activity that could have pushed prices up has been diverted to either BTK or Gwadar. Similarly, DCK saw prices drop by 0.73% for 500-yard2 plots and 0.30% for 250-yard2 plots. Prices did travel upwards because of a notification that Sector III’s possession was being handed over – however, this did not last long.
As with previous months, Gulshan-e-Iqbal continued its stable journey throughout August.
Gujranwala
In Gujranwala, Master City saw appreciation in prices, which grew by 1.40% for 1-kanal and 1.69% for 10-marla plots. The positive change can be attributed to the low prices that were introduced for the Overseas Block in previous months. Development is also ongoing at a fast pace here, keeping genuine buyers interested.
Citi Housing on the other hand did not see significant changes in prices. August did see the start of work on the new office and the theme park – and prices will certainly see jumps in the coming months once these developments are completed.
Prices for DHA Gujranwala saw a drop of 5.76% and 3.31% for 1-kanal and 10-marla plots respectively. This is largely because of no development for the locality. Once things begin to move along prices are expected to shoot up once again.
Despite prices seeing sharp increases in the last few months, DC Colony has cooled into stability and drops are expected in the future if it doesn’t soon see progress. The society saw improvement on the back of rumours that maps would be unblocked; however, without any evidence that practical implementation was near market activity once again went quiet.
FINAL ANALYSIS
The country’s property market is currently being driven by genuine buyers. As was the case in previous months, activity was focused around areas that are either seeing rapid development or are closer to infrastructural developments being undertaken by the government.
It is interesting to note that the activity in the market includes not just people that are looking for homes to build within the country, but also a robust set of overseas Pakistanis that are looking to invest back home.
“The role that overseas Pakistanis play for the real estate industry cannot be denied. There is a reason this segment of the market makes up such a substantial chunk of our annual Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs). In the future I expect that these investments will grow in number, parallel to the growth we are seeing in quality housing developments around the country,” Zameen.com CEO Zeeshan Ali Khan said.
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