Around the world, coastal cities are crowned as the most expensive cities to live in, in terms of cost of living, rental amount and the value of real estate assets. In Pakistan, the honour befalls on Karachi, the metropolis city, where the availability of limited land has been taken care thoughtfully. Throughout Pakistan, people prefer to construct ‘homes’ to live in but on the contrary, shelter needs are met in forms of apartments, flats and high-rise buildings in Karachi. To cater to the ever-increasing demand of property investors and buyers, the city is expanding towards east, west and north. Private developers are announcing new budget-friendly residential projects on the outskirts of Karachi with promising amenities and features that any posh residential society can offer.
The land value in the societies located at the boundaries of city is reasonable as compared to the value of properties in posh societies such as DHA, and Clifton Karachi, which is far out of reach of budget investors. Therefore, investors who want maximum return on investment, intend to invest in posh societies. Let’s look at the most popular residential societies of Karachi for residents, potential buyers and investors alike.
DHA
Like ever, Defence Housing Authority (DHA) is the highlight of Karachi real estate and it can be verified from the number of queries, Homespakistan.com and real estate agents receive regarding this society. “The state of the art housing scheme comes with all the amenities and follows international living standards that an elite dweller can imagine,” states Director Homespakistan.com, Asad Mirza. “Most of the queries that we receive related to properties in Karachi, are about DHA,” he says further.
When it comes to capital appreciation on year-on-year basis or income in form of rental yield, DHA Karachi offers much higher value than DHA Lahore and DHA Islamabad. For instance, in 2014, average price of a 1 kanal plot in DHA Lahore is around 13.5 million (Rs1,35,000,00) whereas, in DHA Karachi, the average price of a 1 kanal plot in DHA Karachi is around 25.5 million (Rs2,55,000,00). These prices are higher than average values of 1 kanal plots in 2013. It seems like investors hardly have any substitute to DHA Karachi investment option due to the capital appreciation it offers as compared to DHA Lahore. Now you can well imagine the popularity of this locality amongst the potential property buyers and investors.
Clifton Karachi
Investors prefer investing in areas in Karachi that are relatively better in law and order situation and hardly get affected by the general security conditions of the city. One such area that remains unaffected by the overall state of law and order situation in Karachi and where real estate activity and value always remains up is Clifton. With constant rise in demand, sales price and rental value of properties here, one can clearly say that properties in Clifton proved to be the most promising investment options in the year 2014.
Potential investors can pick a property depending upon their budget bracket as both homes and apartments are available in this area. As per one real estate agent operating in Clifton properties, average price of an apartment in Clifton is more than Rs15,000,000 while average price of a home over there is more than Rs30,000,000 in 2014, depending upon the location and condition of property. While comparing with the previous year’s average prices, these numbers show that sale prices are consistently increasing. The constant gain indicates that properties in Clifton hardly get affected by the instability and security situation there.
Bahria Town
One cannot stand living without his own shelter, especially, if he is living in a metropolis city like Karachi. To meet this basic need at an affordable price tag, Malik Riaz has introduced his stellar project; Bahria Town in Karachi, after receiving great success in Lahore and Rawalpindi. Affordability is one such factor, which keeps the value and demand of Bahria Town properties always up. Moreover, the project was launched with a vision to establish a city within city that offers ideal community lifestyle and security for families intending to dwell there.
Due to peace and security, it has not just become one of the ideal residential societies in Karachi but also the one that offers best returns on investment. If you are not planning to reside over there, you must consider it for investment. Average value of a 10 marla plot in Bahria Town Karachi is around Rs3,000,000 in 2014, which is expected to grow further with the progress in development work. Whereas; average value of a 10 marla plot in Bahria Town Lahore ranges between 4 million (Rs40,000,00) and 6 million (Rs60,000,00). Average price of 10 Marla plots in Bahria Town Lahore is more than the average price of 10 marla plots in Bahria Town Karachi just because BT Lahore is fully established now and equipped with all the world class facilities. However, Bahria Town Karachi is also expected to follow the footsteps of Lahore project in terms of success and investment.
Investing in real estate assets is something that any potential investor will hardly say no to due to the promising returns it offers and Karachi real estate certainly has a better run with consistent appreciation in property prices as compared to Lahore. After reading this report, you can analyze why and where you should invest in this city.
Author Bio:
Khadija Aslam is a marketing analyst at homespakistan.com and she writes on a variety of subjects including business, real estate, travel etc.