Hi all. I am leaving few cautions for overseas Pakistani’s. Recent boom in Islamabad property is merely superficial and has no concrete reason. In last one year property prices in sectors like d-12 and e-11 nearly doubled because of investment from overseas Pakistani’s and propaganda by mafia. E-11 is not such a worthy piece of land which deserves a price tag of 35 million and d-12 also has nothing more than few houses inside and seems to be a place for grazing rather than living.E-12 is a piece of baron land and has no distant chances of development as per tenure track record of CDA. In other words this property hype is just a bubble and may burst anytime leaving your hard earned money wasted. Pakistan is a country where a normal person earns 150 dollar per month. How can you expect to sell 40 million price plot in Pakistan keeping such an income. Law and order situation is going to be worse in Pakistan with no electricity and gas and in future even water crisis. Pakistani rupee is getting devalued day by day which even make investments more risky. In other words Pakistan/Islamabad currently other than buying a house for personal living is a risky place for property investment and if property bubble will burst your investment will suffer with huge losses as happened after 2000 and 2008 crisis. Rest is your decision.
Thank you for sharing if this is a legit information. I hope it was not a personal grudge against anything.
regards, z@in N@deem
I can almost feel the anguish emanating from that post....its like the cry of a fresh victim who has fallen prey to the "propaganda mafia". While I may not necessarily agree with many of the contents of this post, I am surprised as to how a hype is created around a place which is not even nearly worth its price, and how year after year, unsuspecting novice investors fall prey to the same tactics over and over again...Maybe they are to be partly blamed for not having asked the difficult questions, not carrying out a critical assessment of the sales pitch and accepting things at face value....Its sad to say the least.
As for the property boom, every boom has an underlying reason, its just that sometimes its not easy to comprehend because it is indirect in nature. Our economy is a tale of two classes, while most make 150 dollars a month or less, believe me, there are many in this country who easily make this much per hour or per day.
There are good investment opportunities available in this market for investors who are wise enough to enter into a transaction with open eyes rather than sliding down the slippery slope setup by a marketing hype....as I dont think one can make a profit like that anywhere in the world. Best Wishes.
I agree with syedamjad saab, mainly as if the country was full of poor people then how could places like bahria and dha survive? places like bt and dha would not last 2 seconds as whether overseas or not, people invest for investment and personal living. There is always a boom and then once it reaches boiling point, prices decline! this is always the case, its nothing new here especially with the real estate market. If you want to invest in something which is unlikely to decrease in value then there are other options like cars etc...but as far as real estate goes this is always the case.
therefore, a smart investor considers all the pros and cons and makes a final decision. Some investors buy blindly taking word of mouth opinion and this comes to bite them later on as they end up paying over the odds and realise its a really really long term investment, they lose patience and sell at a loss. Also prices are effected when new gov comes into power and since we have had a new gov prices will change, so all we can do at the moment is pray for the best. As it does not look good especially with the floods..that we have been hit with recently...this could have a negative impact on the prices!...only allah knows best!
And one more thing, as per the economic condition of Pakistan is concerned, people find no promising industry to funnel investments other than Pakistan real estate....But newbies and novices all should gather some counselling from experts in order to make informed investment decisions. And rest rest is ALLAH's will.
Good Luck all. Regards, z@in N@deem
Sir until our remaining industry will not be in running condition,real estate sector will always have a boom because people do not want to keep money with themselves due to devaluation of rupee.Every one wants to invest his/her money at the best possible place and in the present circumstances,there is no way out except to buy some property.People also feels themselves safe after buying property as the cars and gold etc etc is so not safe to keep with.It is all my opinion…
Making investment in realestate is not different from any other investment as the risk is always there. For making high profits, you are required to take high risks, for normal return, the risk is relatively low. So, to make a good decision, knowledge about the field is very very important. One should not be disappointed to that extend as expressed in the starting post of this discussion. One should make decision wisely and leave it to Allah. Regards,
@ Hawk2k … Ur facts are baseless without any reference. There are so many people living and buying in CDA, DHA, and Bahria… Because they can afford. Yes, there are people who are earning $150 per month or even less and they cannot afford living in CDA, DHA, or Bahria. But people living in DHA, Bahria, CDA sectors are earning a lot, you cannot even imagine (few people are earning even more than people working abroad). Doctors, engineers, sales people, factory owners, business owners etc etc earn much much more than $150 per month, that’s why living in such posh areas.
Dear all I certainly agree with you that few porple make 150 dollars per day but they dont represent the per capita income of the average and make a small segment of the society. Per capita income is much low as compared to towering prices of land in islamabad which is not california, london or frankfurt. There is no reason that people are dying to buy these 40 million lots as neither there is any influx of multinational industry nor any instrumental local industry. In short poeple are paying prices for diamonds but this land only is worthed to copper or silver. My arguments are not baseless. Can any one tell me if there is any foreign investment coming to islamabad or isn’t there an shortage of electricity, gas. The price of land DHA fell to half its value after 2000 and this is not a baseless reality and there was a similar fall in prices in Islamabad also. If some one wants to invest in property even without these dire realities then he may do so but a wise investor will always keep this in mind before falling a prey to property mafia who are selling barron lands for 40 million. In this price one can get a good apartment even in london and frankfurt and these places justify these price tags because of a giant financial industry and high buying power. Why should one buy 30 milion in islamabad when there is not even electricity and hike is artificial by a mafia. This investment run is a superficial increase of property in islamabad and this bubble may burst anytime. Pakistani should better invest their money in industry and businesses instead of these barron lands. These lands will give nothing but industry, business and eduction can bring us to par with modern world and give us financial returns hundred times as compared to property which is a hunting ground for property mafia. The property has no real value behind this as this is not gold or diamond and any time some other mafia/influential factor will bring its worth to one fourth of its value and this has happened many times in pakistan.
In my point of view, points raised by Hawk2k are valid i.e., a property should have its true value; it should not have sudden and undue increase--an increase which is out of the range of a major part of the society. This true value must have some reasons on the basis of which it is determined. For instance, as pointed by Hawk2k an increased influx industry is an indicator for high property prices in an area. There could be other factor too for high values of a property; e,g., good weather, security, and high job-rate in the area etc.
In the case of Islamabad/RWpindi, some of the factors which cause a property value to increase are definitely present. Some of such factors are relatively more jobs in the area, relatively clean environment, somehow better personal security, presence of many educational institutions and other governmental organisations, and migrations of people from other areas.
These all factor are instrumental in the price-increase in Islamabad/RWpindi. Now the question arises, despite all these factors in addition to many other complementing reasons, whether the prevailing prices are justified? Lets consider a hypothetical scenario in which all these factors are present in a certain area then what would be prices in that area... I'm not good in such formulations and estimations so I cannot say what should be the net property prices in that hypothetical area which qualifies all those factors which cause property prices to increase or decrease and are applicable to Islamabad. Someone else might do this estimation.
However. My guess is in a well-poised society the justified prices would be lower than the prevailing prices in Islamabad. In Islamabad prices are out of range of a major part of our society. Out of this high increase only those get benefits who already have enough financial resources. As a result, in a society a class system is produced; one richer class and one poor class.
Now the question is how can property prices in the area be brought to a normal level, in the approach of almost everyone. One possibility is people may stop buying; because of lower demand and greater supply prices will come down. The other possibility is an institution may regulate the prices in the area so that prices may not go up unnecessarily high. The later option is not in the hands of people, the former option is in the hands of people. However, if people exercise the former option (not buying expensive property) then the risk is they may eventually have to buy more expensive property, which essentially is an escalated loss. All I did is to analyse the situation as per my understanding but I could not reach to a conclusion that what needs to be done.
@Hawk2k: would you please like to suggest in the present scenario what can be done so that people with limited financial resources may not suffer in the prevailing situation of high property rates.
House is primary necessity for everyone.Access to buy housing is availble and prices by CDA or housing societies are also afforadble.
The problem comes when above access is restricted by "real estate mafia" directly and then by "investors" indirectly.They book multiple plots and later selling in black market.
There should be high tax if someone buying more than one plot in order to discourage "investors or real estate Mafia".If they want to buy more than one plot then this is business and high tax should be paid.
If "investor" get loss so that's what they deserve by not giving access to public to buy house for living.
Public need houses for their living and shouldnt have any sympathy to "investors"
Absolutely correct analyze i don't think overseas Pakistani interested to invest in Pakistan look at the currency conversation rates Pakistan rupees depreciating in hours 60 Rs dollar to 103 Rs in just few years time
Why the hell one oversea Pakistani Will invest their dollar pound or euro in Pakistan for losing their money ?
my overseas friend invested 50000 dollars in Pakistan in 2005 when dollar is around 60rs and in 2012 he sold that plot and converted back Rs to dollar and he just got profit of 6k dollars bec rate of Rs against dollar was 99Rs
5 years of wait and just 6k dollar
Bro if Rupees keep on depreciating at this speed than dollar will b around 150rs or more in 5 years time and u will getting nothing against your plot investment
So there is high chances are that this property boom is artificial and will burst any time bec all currency rates suggesting it
As an overseas Pakistani, I find this discussion very interesting. I would like to share my experience with brothers on this forum and also get some good advice for future investments. There is always some risk in most forms of investments and real estate is no exception. Back in 2006-2007, I invested in property both in UAE and Pakistan, both off plan projects. After the recession hit, many developers in UAE absconded, few delivered the units very late and others have not yet delivered to date. So, a large number of people lost all that they had invested, with no hope of ever getting a single penny back. Whereas the property that I had booked in Pakistan paid off, Alhamdulillah. All said and done, personally I think most overseas Pakistanis, especially those in the Gulf, are well aware of the problems in Pakistan but at the end of the day, it is still their homeland, a place that gives them a sense of belonging, and where they eventually have to return to. Coming back to investments, my question to brothers is, with the property market booming big time now in Dubai again, should we invest here? It might seem like a silly question after what we've suffered but was just wondering... Since most laws have now been changed, new laws and escrow accounts introduced, and great measures are being taken by the UAE government to protect investors. With real estate investment, timing to enter the market and when to exit is also crucial. At the moment, I believe (and stand to be corrected), it's a very good time to enter the UAE market. Reason? Dubai has placed a bid for the Expo 2020, and the results should be announced in a month or so. If Dubai wins, it will have a very positive impact not only on real estate but other things as well. We have already witnessed a rise of 16-18% in some areas and up to 30-40% in others. What do the brothers on this forum advice?
This is very good information for international investment.But this forum is for properties in Pakistan and most of the people are interested in Islamabad and Lahore properties.
@ saadi_aquarious.....Thats what i meant bro.
Regards, z@in N@deem