OVERVIEW
Considering relatively slow sale-purchase activity in calendar year (CY) 2014, the stakeholders of the property market were expecting a sluggish Q1 2015. Things, however, turned out to be different in the first quarter of CY 2015.
Zameen.com’s analysis of the property market indicates that, apart from only a few exceptions, the property markets of Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad registered decent gains. According to numbers from Q1 2015, Sector E-11 in Islamabad and Lahore Cantt were the only prime areas where property prices dropped significantly over the course of the first quarter, while the rest of the localities in the three major cities performed well.
Defence Housing Authority (DHA), in particular, exhibited impressive numbers across the quarter. Search trend charts for plots and homes were also topped by the DHA in all three cities, while Bahria Town stood second and Gulistan-e-Jauhar and Gulshan-e-Iqbal continued to compete with DHA Karachi in search trend charts for homes in Pakistan’s largest city.
LAHORE
Lahore’s property market exhibited stable gains in all major areas with the exception of Lahore Cantt, where the sale price of 1-kanal plots dropped 5.86% on average during the first quarter, ending at PKR 29,182,966.
On the other hand, Bahria Town maintained an uppish trend over the course of the first quarter with a 4.79% rise in the average sale price of 1-kanal plots. With issues gradually reaching resolution in LDA Avenue I, the locality also witnessed an average rise of 4.23% in 1-kanal plot prices in Q1 2015.
DHA and Lahore Cantt ruled the housing sector of Lahore’s property market, with the sale price of 1-kanal homes in the latter touching the price tag of PKR 35,974,552 and fetching an average monthly rent of PKR 129,981.
ISLAMABAD
Sale-purchase activity in Islamabad’s property market had remained slow in CY 2014. However, the beginning of CY 2015 announced improvements in market activity. Bahria Town and DHA Islamabad performed impressively well across Q1 2015, but property prices in Sector F-11 remained stable while Sector E-11 saw price drops.
According to Zameen.com’s data, the average sale price of 1-kanal plots in Sector F-11 increased a negligible 0.93%, while Sector E-11’s 1-kanal plots witnessed a price drop of 3.47% in Q1 2015.
On the positive side, the average sale price of 1-kanal plots in Bahria Town Islamabad increased 4.33%, and DHA Islamabad’s same-sized plots saw a whopping rise of 14.67% in average prices over the course of the quarter.
The performance of the housing market of the federal capital was also decent in Q1 2015. The average sale price of 1-kanal homes in Sector F-11 stood at PKR 66,171,491, fetching an average monthly rental of PKR 196,990. Same-sized homes in Sectors E-11 and G-11 touched the mark of PKR 62,752,711 and PKR 55,948,486 in that order.
KARACHI
Major societies in Karachi performed well in Q1 2015, with the only exception being Gulistan-e-Jauhar, which witnessed a minor drop in property values. A sharp rise of 6.14% was seen in the average prices of DHA Karachi’s 1-kanal plots, which were being sold for PKR 33,380,298 on average at the end of Q1 2015.
A 4.38% price rise for same-sized plots was witnessed in Gulshan-e-Iqbal across the quarter. DHA City Karachi also registered a decent gain of 1.83% in the average sale price of 1-kanal plots. Meanwhile, prices came down 1.79% in Gulistan-e-Jauhar to end the quarter at PKR 11,250,000 for a 1-kanal plot on average.
FINAL ANALYSIS
Property investors had been worried during the last two quarters of 2014, but they must have heaved a sigh of relief after witnessing the situation getting back on track now. Stats from Q1 2015 present a favourable picture of the property market, as most of the top localities in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad have performed well, which hints at a promising year ahead.
DHA dominated the market in terms of activity and price gains in Q1 2015. Bahria Town’s developments in Lahore and Islamabad needed to show some strength and the first quarter saw that happen as well.
“The good performance of the property market in Q1 2015 must have eased concerns among property investors. The problems faced by the property market in 2014 have largely been resolved and it is now shaping up to perform well in the remaining months of 2015,” said Zameen.com CEO and Co-Founder Mr Zeeshan Ali Khan.
“Property investors usually take investment decisions in the second quarter of the year. So, we should expect to see better activity until the holy month of Ramadan, when activity usually subsides and picks up again around Eid-ul-Fitr,” he added.
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What about Peshawar and Quetta? What kind of website are you running if you skip two entire provinces?
Dear Ms Saira,
Given the rate at which Zameen.com is expanding, we’ll InshaAllah be able to collect verifiable data from Peshawar and Quetta sooner rather than later. As soon as that happens, we will include them in our reports.