The realty market went through various fluctuations in the first half of the year. This was primarily because of the changing economic and political situation in the country.

Islamabad remained stable throughout the first half of the year. The highest growth in property prices by 14.26% was recorded in Sector B17 for 1-kanal plots while 18.05% increase in prices was recorded for 10-marla plots. This can be attributed to the construction of new airport as well. Top City-1 appeared as the fourth most searched place for plots during this time.

Lahore also remained stable throughout this time. However, moderate price drops were experienced in Bahria Orchard. Prices for 10-marla plots fell by 7.78% and for 1-kanal plots by 3.2%. Prices in Lahore Development Authority Avenue-1 fell by 5.98% for 10-marla plots while DHA Lahore and Wapda Town experienced no price fluctuations.

DHA Gujranwala recorded one of the highest price hikes in the country. Prices increased by 21.88% for 1-kanal plots and 15.44% for 10-marla plots. On the other hand, however, DC Colony experienced a sharp decline in prices.

Karachi experienced the most increases in Bahria Town Karachi. For 500-yard plots prices increased by 35.49% while for 250-yard prices increased by 43.69%. Only Bahria Town experienced these price hikes, activity in DHA City Karachi and DHA Karachi still remained low owing to the development in Gwadar.

Islamabad

Market activity was largely dominated by genuine buyers, for the H1 and there were little price fluctuations.

Amongst these those which performed well were Bahria Town and Sector B-17. In Bahria Town, prices for 1-kanal plots rose by 5.84% and those for 10-marla by 4.52%. On the other hand, in Sector B-17, prices for 1-kanal plots increased by 14.26% while those of 10-marla plots increased by increased by 18.05%. Growth in Sector B-17 has increased primarily because of the construction of new airport.

Sectors F-11 and E-11 and Gulberg Residencia remained stable although it was expected that activity would pick up soon after Eid. This didn’t happen primarily because of saturation levels in both sectors F-11 and E-11 and activity remained low in Gulberg Residencia and Phase I. While prices in Phase IV dropped and Phases II and V and Bahria Enclave outperformed all other localities.

Lahore

There was little activity in Lahore and overall the market remained stable for H1. Owing to the positive trends at the start of the year, it was expected that activity in Bahria Town would resume. However, this didn’t happen because of the issues in Lahore Ring Road and in Sector F. resultantly, both investors and genuine buyers stayed away from the market.

High population density caused the prices in Wapda Town to remain stable. However, on the other hand, LDA Avenue-1 experienced price drops of 2.79% for 1-kanal plots and 5.98% for 1-marla plots. This has been primarily because of litigation issues, lack of security and a low level of development

However, some areas in Lahore performed relatively well. DHA Lahore’s Phases I-VI recorded a growth of 3.79% for 1-kanal plots and 1.72% for 10-marla plots. As these have high population density, this hindered their prospects for engaging more buyers and investors, much recorded activity took place in Phases V and VI.

In Phases VII-IX prices increased moderately by 3.29% for 1-kanal and 4.2% for 10-marla plots. Prices have been subjected to higher levels of fluctuations because of political downturn in the country. Worst hit because of this has been Bahria Orchard. The prices dropped by 3.2% for 1-kanal and 7.78% for 10-marla plots as many investors were attracted towards BTK and when they exited the artificially inflated prices also fell.

Gujranwala

Activity in Master Citi, Citi Housing and DC Colony remained stable while DHA Gujranwala saw the most traffic from buyers and investors.

In DHA Gujranwala 1-kanal plots registered a price increase of 21.88% for 1-kanal plots and 15.44% for 10-marla plots. Prices are expected to rise again as buzz from other various DHA projects calms down.

In Master City prices increased by 1.44% for 1-kanal and by 4.93% for 10-marla plots. While on the other hand Citi Housing saw price increase of 4.08% for 1-kanal plots and 3.35% for 1-marla plots. Investors in Citi Housing were attracted away by Palm City causing an overall less activity here.

DC Colony had previously experienced sharp drops in prices but was not able to achieve stability. This was primarily because of anticipation regarding the acquisition of maps. Overall, there were price drops but these are expected to move towards stability soon.

Karachi

Bahria Town Karachi is one of the most attractive investments options. It was able to attract investors away from Gwadar because of its rapid paced development. Plot prices for 500-yard increased by 35.94% while for 250-yard these increased by 43.96%. For genuine buyers Gulshan-e-Iqbal remained the top choice.

Activity in DHA Karachi and DCK was rather sluggish. DCK had performed fairly well in Q1 but investors soon were attracted towards Gwadar.

Final analysis

Stability prevailed in almost all cities, however, overall H1 presented mixed results.

“Localities that had speedy development performed better than others during H1. Moreover, localities that have infrastructural developments taking place nearby also saw significant jumps. This tells us that investors are looking at areas that will prove to be the right fit for homeowners in the future,” Zameen.com CEO Zeeshan Ali Khan said.

In Karachi, BTK did exceptionally well as prices rose extensively by 35.94% for 500-yard plots and 43.69% for 250-yard plots. DHA Gujranwala stood out most prominently in Gujranwala. In Islamabad prices in Sector B-17 increased by 14.36% for 1-kanal and 18.05% for 10-marla plots. The construction of new airport has been the main driver of prices in Islamabad.