Real Estate is a promising and growing sector of the Pakistani economy.  Pakistan spends $5.2 billion on construction in a year and according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, construction output accounts for 2% of GDP.  Recently, with the increase in the rate of urbanization, there has been a rise in the demand of residential properties. 

Real estate developers are very much interested in buying land and developing residential communities.  The major property developer players in Pakistan are more inclined towards international living standards and state of the art construction plans.  New developments are underway with modern-day comforts, so that the residents get their true value for money.  These projects feature in-town colleges, sports, commercial markets, healthcare facilities and sports centers.  Wealthy buyers and sharp-sighted investors are heavily investing in these areas.  The Pakistani Government is also taking steps to maintain the favorable returns of the real estate sector and hence dropped interest rates on mortgage loans.  This has attracted many overseas Pakistani’s and foreigners who have hedged their investments in this sector to reap huge profits. 

In recent times, a U.S. real estate tycoon, signed off a deal with the CEO of Asia’s largest real estate developers, Bahria Town, to construct the first ever Island City in Karachi by the name of Bodha Island City.  The expected timeline of this project is 5-10 years and it will require an approximate influx of $20 billion.  The media is abuzz with the news that an association of investors will be cooperating on a single platform to successfully execute the project.  Hence, this further confirms the fact that Pakistan real estate has vast untapped business opportunity and growth. 

The top players in the real estate industry are undoubtedly the DHA and Bahria Town.  The latter has played a pioneering role in commercializing the real estate development and establishing it as a formal sector.  Now the real estate investments come under the tax net.  Similarly, DHA is also a top notch housing society.  It is well-engineered and has state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities such as schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, cinemas, parks, marriage lawns, clubs, security management and traffic control system etc.  Furthermore, the earthquakes in Pakistan have brought to the attention of regulatory bodies and the end consumers the need for enforcement of building codes and quality construction practices.  According to survey of some Pakistani property portals including lamudi.pk, Homespakistan.com and Pakistanrealestate.netinterviewed several buyers of residential homes and commercial buildings and confirms that they prefer quality designing rather than cheaper and casually designed units.  Hence, this makes it a perfect case to invest in the booming real estate sector of Pakistan. 

Property prices in Islamabad had a bit of a dry spell in the first quarter of 2014.  Most of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) sectors, which were very popular in 2013, did not manage to register impressive appreciation.  In fact, some of the most notable areas registered a fall in prices.  E-11 exhibited a downward trend with a 4.85% fall in the prices of 1-kanal plots.  Interestingly, however, prices of same-sized plots in F-11 told a different story, registering an increase of 14.10% and providing further evidence that there was some upward activity in selective pockets of the Federal Capital despite a relatively sluggish market.  Homes, on the other hand, have had a much better 2014 across the board so far.shelters.com.pk’s statistics showed that 1-kanal homes in F-11, G-11 and E-11 saw price increases of 15.36%, 10.44% and 5.56% respectively.  From among the three most popular CDA sectors, E-11, G-11 and F-11, the first emerged as the most economical place to rent a 1-kanal home, with an average rental price of Rs 167,475 in Q1 of 2014 and an estimated rental yield of 3.46%.  Rents for residential units of the same size hovered around the Rs 185,000 mark in F-11 during the first three months of 2014, and with increasing prices and steady rents, data showed a gradual drop in the sector’s rental yield.  One-kanal homes in G-11 fared slightly better in terms of rent thanks to steady, albeit minute, increases.  The sector boasted an average monthly rent of Rs 191800 in the first quarter and a steady 3.61% rental yield. 

property investment is undoubtedly the most promising investment in Pakistan but one has to be smart enough to take timely decisions as prices rise abruptly and become out of reach of many small investors.  Currently, Investment near New Islamabad Airport is the hottest option available at lower prices which attracts small to medium investors and major jump is expected within a year.