Gas pipeline installation project launched in DHA Phase-VI

LAHORE: The Defence Housing Authority (DHA) administration launched a gas pipeline installation project in Sector B of Phase-VI on Thursday.

DHA Administrator Brigadier Muhammad Aslam said the DHA administration was trying its best to complete the development in the new phases as soon as possible to facilitate the residents of the area.

He pointed out that Phase-VI was ... more

7-storey parking plaza at Liberty

The Traffic Engineering and Planning Department (TEPA) will construct a seven-storey parking plaza in the provincial capital with an estimated cost of Rs 499 million.

The parking plaza to be constructed at the Liberty market on 3 kanals and 16 marlas land with a capacity of 206 cars, will be operative for 12 hours a day and its proposed rate of parking is said to be Rs 25 per hour ... more

NOC issued to CDA for water supply to G-13-14

The dispute between Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) over supply of water to Sectors G-13 and G-14 has been solved.

RCB issued NOC to CDA for supplying water from Tomar Reservoir to Sectors G-13 and 14. The Cantt Board earlier refused to issue NOC while RDA had already issued the NOC.

The row has been solved after a meeting betw ... more

More properties being built in the UK than a year ago

The number of new properties being built is increasing but they are still way below what they were a year ago and the situation is set to result in severe shortages in years to come.

The latest figures from the NHBC show that private sector starts are 36% on a year ago although they have reached the highest point in almost a year.

The warranty and insurance provider re ... more

DHA announces new residential project on Super Highway

The launch of a new residential-cum-commercial venture on the Super Highway, under the brand name of ‘DHA City Karachi,’ was announced on Tuesday by the Defence Housing Authority (DHA).

DHA Administrator Brig. Khalid Tirmizi said that the new residential estate coming up on the Super Highway was spread over an area of approximately 12,000 acres and was at a 20-minute drive from th ... more

Cyprus promises title deed resolution

Beleaguered property investors in southern Cyprus, many of them British, are hoping that they will soon learn the detail of how the country's Interior Ministry is planning to sort out the title deed mess that has dogged the Mediterranean island's real estate sector.

New measures to speed up the issuing of title deeds affecting over 100,000 properties, some of which have been witho ... more

Model ‘forest park’ to be developed near Rawal Lake

Islamabad: Sources in the Capital Development Authority (CDA) told ‘The News’ that the park will be developed in five years at a cost of Rs239 million. The park will be divided into blocks of 4 to 10 acres. These blocks will be given to government and private sector institutions in addition to academic institutions for afforestation. Plantation will be carried out by institutions and departme ... more

DHA Cogen Power and Desalination Plant to be online by August

KARACHI: The much delayed DHA Cogen Power and Desalination Plant, located in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority, will be online by August, DHA Administrator Brigadier Khalid Tirmizi told The News on Tuesday.

The 80-megawatt gas-fired plant was slated to start production earlier this year but was delayed owing to a number of reasons.

This announcement has been welcomed ... more

Mini property boom in Nepal

Nepal may not be the obvious next property hotspot but the mountainous country between India and China is experiencing a mini real estate boom as wealthy Nepalese real estate investors seek a safe have for their money, it is claimed.

Government figures show the number of new apartments built in Kathmandu rose more than three-fold last year to 3,385 from 1,088 in 2007, as high land ... more

Widescale investment in bargain Japanese real estate not expected until next year

Giant investment funds are poised to start buying Japanese property in the first half of next year when prices are expected to be at rock bottom, it is claimed.

Global investors including Carlyle Group, Blackstone Group and Lone Star Funds are still waiting for prices to drop a bit further, according to Ben Duncan, managing director of CB Richard Ellis Japan.

'The mark ... more

Slowing in the number of construction firms facing critical financial distress

The number of property construction firms in distress has almost doubled in the last year but fewer have been facing financial problems in the last three months, suggesting an improved outlook.

The latest data from insolvency specialist Begbies Traynor shows that overall the number in significant distress, defined as those with a court action or average, poor, very poor, insolvent ... more

Rich Russians turn to US for property bargains

Rich Russians are returning to the US property market, lured by distressed sales and the ruble's rise against the dollar, it is claimed.

With oil prices more settled they are looking at worldwide investments in real estate with Miami and New York proving popular hunting grounds for their big purses, according to lawyer Edward Mermelstein whose firm has an office in Moscow.

Govt to build Rs 1.1bn Papin Dam

RAWALPINDI: The federal government has planned to build a small dam at the cost of Rs 1.167 billion on Wadala Kas, a tributary of Soan River in Papin Village, District Rawalpindi.

Sources told Daily Times on Wednesday that the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and the provincial government would execute the project and the federal government would fund the project. more

PEC drops plan to set up IMAX Theatre in Lahore

LAHORE - Punjab Entertainment Company has changed its plans to set up IMAX Theater in Lahore after facing stiff opposition. It is now going to launch the said project at Faisalabad, authorities concerned told The Nation on Monday.

The sources said that delays in the project had badly damaged the technical equipment worth $2 million which was purchased in 2006. Now the sources said ... more

Property analysts tip relatively unknown Chinese cities for real estate boom

A number of relatively unknown Chinese cities are set for a property boom as the country's real estate recovery gets underway, according to analysts.

They name cities in the western, central and northern regions such as Tianjin and Chongqing as being in a position to grow faster than cities like Shanghai and Beijing.

Tianjin, a port in north eastern China about 120 kil ... more

Property market in Oz cities showing signs of recovery

Confidence is returning to the property markets in Sydney and Melbourne according to a new survey that compares the real estate market with a clock face.

The research from Colliers International puts the top of the market at 12 o'clock and the bottom at 6pm. It puts four markets at or near rock bottom and reveals that 64% believe the worst had passed and the market is poised for r ... more

Obama Mulls Rental Option for Homeowners

NEW YORK--U.S. officials are weighing a plan to let borrowers who have fallen behind on mortgage payments avoid eviction by renting their home instead, sources familiar with the administration's thinking said Tuesday.

Under one idea being discussed, delinquent homeowners would surrender ownership of their homes but would continue to live in the property for several years, the sour ... more

English councils offered help to manage property portfolios worth £250 billion

Local authorities in England who are responsible for property portfolios worth around £250 billion are to be given advice on how to invest wisely.

A new set of best practice guides for local authorities on how to manage their assets effectively have been published by Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.

The guides offer practical solutions at a time when local autho ... more

Property prices in China rising

Residential property prices in urban areas in China rose for the first time in six months in June, according to the latest official figures to be released.

The prices in 70 major cities increased by 0.2% year on year, the data from the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Bureau of Statistics, showed.

This follows a 0.6% fall in prices in May but ... more

Work on another interchange, flyovers on Expressway soon

Capital Development Authority (CDA) will initiate construction work of another interchange and flyovers on Islamabad Expressway shortly after the designing of the project completes.

“The projects are in their designing phase and work in this regard will be launched soon after all formalities are completed,” said a senior CDA official Thursday.

“We have dropped the plan ... more

Zardari urges investment in housing sector

ISLAMABAD: Local and foreign investors can invest in Pakistan’s housing sector, particularly in the rehabilitation of internally displaced persons, President Asif Zardari said on Wednesday.

He was talking to delegates of the Gulf General Investment Company (GGICO) – led by its Chairman Abdullah Juma Al-Sari at the Presidency.

Zardari said the government had launched a  ... more

CDA bans advertisement on capital roads

Islamabad: Chairman Capital Development Authority (CDA) Imtiaz Inayat Elahi Tuesday said that haphazard and ill-planned advertisements are sprouting in the federal capital that is against the city’s character, causing visual pollution.

Chairing a meeting at the CDA headquarters, the CDA chief directed the Directorate of Municipal Administration to revisit the policy of allowing ad ... more

Forced property sales at all time high in New Zealand

Forced property sales in New Zealand are more than four times higher than a year ago as the impact of the global downturn hits vulnerable real estate owners harder than expected.

Although New Zealand has not been immune from the global property downturn it was expected not to end up with a major repossession problem.

But it is unemployment that it taking a toll. The Au ... more

LDA bans dealings in Johar Town's 1061 plots with missing files

THE Lahore Development Authority (LDA) has found that 1,061 files of plots located in Johar Town phase I and II are missing from its record and the authority had banned any transaction related to these plots.

The decision was made by LDA Director General Omar Rasool following a report of a special committee that had been constituted to scrutinise property files of Johar Town. The  ... more

Sharea Faisal, green but dangerous

Karachi: Sharea Faisal, the city’s main artery stretching from Karachi Airport to defunct Hotel Metropole, has been turned green due to massive plantation of wonder tree Conocarpus by the City District Government Karachi (CDGK). However, the road is equally dangerous for pedestrians who simply can’t cross the road due to fast traffic flow.

Conocorpus is ever-green, beautiful and h ... more

CDGK to construct six more flyovers on Sharea Faisal

Karachi: The City District Government Karachi (CDGK) will construct more than six flyovers and u-turns at Sharea Faisal to make the city’s busiest artery a signal-free road from the Quaid-e-Azam International Airport to the Jinnah Bridge at PIDC.

The proposed fourth signal-free corridor (SFC) of the city will cost Rs2.9billion. The amount has been allocated in the next budget. more

Rawal Town Council approves Rs 710m budget for 2009-10

RAWALPINDI: Rawal Town Council (RTC) on Monday approved Rs 710.761 million Rawal Town budget for fiscal year 2009-10 amid uproar and pandemonium.

Rawal Town Naib Nazim Chaudhry Farooq Azam presided over the budget session in Jinnah Hall, Town Municipal Administration Complex. Rawal Town Nazim Sheikh Rashid Shafique presented the budget, which was approved by the RTC.

S ... more