KARACHI
The ongoing move against criminals along with better law and order situation of the city has further boosted up the property price in the financial hub of the country.
Especially during the recent drive increase of 15pc to 20pc were seen in the rates of plots, house and flats.
Arshad Hussain Qureshi, a property dealer and developer told The Nation that first five months of PML-N government have proved quite satisfactory as they have supported the continuous rise in property prices.
The city, which saw instability because of frequent target killings, is fast returning to normalcy and this relative stability is positively impacting property prices in different areas.
The price of 120 yards plot in middle class areas like Landhi, Korangi, Shah Faisal and Malir, North Karachi, Buffer Zone were around Rs2.5-3 million and now witnessed sharp increase of Rs 1-1.5 million, simultaneously the same result were seen in the upper class area like Gulistan-i-Johar, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, North Nazimabad, Federal B-Area and Nazimabad and posh areas like Defence and Clifton, he added.
The prevailing situation also resumes the interest of foreign investors including investors from USA and UK and Dubai.
The area of Defence, Gulistan-i-Johar and Super Highway are under development areas where most of the projects are in progress and have investors’ interest.  
Arshad said, there is a dire need to control the grabbers and land mafia who involved in bad practices specially authorities should control these groups who get NOC for a fake society and looting people without any fear.
To control the mala fide  practices in property business, government should introduce a high-tech system like bio-metric, he added and said, it is pertinent to mention here that the deep rooted land mafia have connections with land department and also have political support.
In the absence of a fresh census or reliable data, it cannot be stated how many houses the city needs and how many it produces every year. Owing to the huge population in the city, the demand for new houses is continuously on the rise.
It is reported that the city sees at least a 4.5-5pc increase in population every year. This means Karachi adds 1 million people every year according to its current population of around 20 million.
The builders divide the city into three divisions – north, central and south.
For them, the south comprises posh areas, the centre is too congested and the north has huge land for high-rise buildings that can cater to the demand for people looking for flats.