Recently, the real estate in the country has been thriving, and part of this is attributable to the presence of online marketplaces for the sector. Zameen.com is the largest and the leading online portal for buying and selling of property, and besides connecting buyers with sellers and owners with renters across the country, the group has made essential real estate information available that can abridge the industry knowledge gap.
Recent data and real estate trends for October 2015 from the largest property portal have some key characteristics of property buying and selling in major cities of the country - a good proxy for the real estate industry. In October 2015, the realty sector presented a mixed picture ranging from price hikes, to not-so-modest growth rates, to stability in some areas.
The Karachi market continued to roar up, which is always welcomed liberally, especially with the poor law and order situation in the past for long. The growth in Karachi's property market was dynamic except for one key project, Bahria Town Karachi. The chief reason for a plunge in prices of this project as quoted by the property portal is the allegations heaved by the Rangers. Despite the continuing development work, the investors seem to be wary of the contentions; the average price of a 250-yard plot and a 500-yard plot both fell by over eight percent.
Efforts of the Rangers on the other hand have also started bearing its fruits in form of better law and order situation in the city. And since the property market goes hand in hand with the security situation, there has been a marked improvement in price across the city. DHA Karachi and DHA City Karachi continued to show growth, while Gulshan-e-Iqbal witnessed a surprising upsurge of over six percent. Hindsight suggests that this growth has been due to improving security situation in the area as people migrate from other localities; mind you this area was partly neglected before the Karachi Operation as it was not too safe for the investors previously.
Conversely, Lahore and Islamabad had varied performance in the October 2015. While Bahria Town remained steadfast, Lahore's performance was disappointing in DHA and LDA Avenue I. Both witnessed controlled dips of 2.82 percent and 1.95 percent, respectively. However, overall the city still portrayed a healthy sale-purchase activity, with DHA at the top for plots and homes.
Key features for Lahore's landscape as highlighted by Zameen.com the increase in transfer charges for Bahria Town and no electricity supplied to LDA project. These will most probably result in a dip in property prices in the future.
Following Lahore markets path, Islamabad real estate market also saw some ups and downs. DHA Islamabad - an example of mixed picture - saw price of 10-marla plots fall by over one percent, and that of 1-kanal plots rise by over three percent. E-11 prices plunged, while F-11 continued its growth trajectory.
Overall there is excitement over Karachi market, but the group is not o skeptical about Lahore and Islamabad markets as well. "A few societies in Lahore and Islamabad are a bit rickety right now, but we don't foresee any permanent damage. It is just a matter of time before these projects pull their socks up and address their issues," shared Zeeshan Ali Khan - CEO Zameen.com - with BR Research.
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