2018 was the year of stable market conditions for the real estate sector in the entirety of Pakistan, as a new taxation regime was introduced, and caution generally prevailed. The new regime has been stricter, and it has had a dampening effect on the amount of activity conducted – as the general feeling among the real estate community has been that taxes are too high. This effect has been particularly pronounced in Faisalabad, according to the experts interviewed. Here\u2019s a brief account of the direction which real estate took during the course of the previous year, according to them:<\/p>\n
Declining prices, cautious outlook<\/strong><\/p>\n All of the experts agreed that the general trend has been towards declining prices throughout Faisalabad in 2018. According to Mian Muhammad Sardar of Qasim Property Links, the reason behind this phenomenon is decreased investor activity. He said that this can be attributed to the general investor behaviour in strained situations: when policies change, investors become cautious.<\/p>\n The same can be said of the current situation of the real estate market. Government policies are still being adjusted, and the market has not settled under them so far. As a result, investors have been exercising caution. The market has been primarily shored up by genuine buyers who have been buying properties, and keeping the transactions going.<\/p>\n Hopes and expectations for the future<\/strong><\/p>\n Two diverging views have been expressed by realtors regarding this matter. While all agreed that the sector needs a stability in policies, their opinion on how the government should go about resolving this flux differed. Whereas Sardar was of the belief that the government should go ahead with its documentation and regularisation plans, Muhammad Shakeel of Hamza Estate Agency felt that the taxes should be reduced, and the pace of regularisations slowed – so that the market could adjust with it.<\/p>\n Sardar was of the opinion that documentation and regularisation has to be done, with it being in the public interest that it be completed urgently. This will help to raise the trust of the common man in real estate. \u00a0And bring greater, more genuine activity, to the real estate sector in the long run.<\/p>\n Shakeel, on the other hand, felt that the real estate domain should not be burdened all of a sudden. The regularisation, he felt, may be important \u2013 and indeed in the public interest. But it won\u2019t do anyone any good if people stop investing in real estate.<\/p>\n