KARACHI ( TAHIR REPORT )
Safety and security drive house-hunters’ decisions about where to live, with these factors outplaying other concerns, such as location and affordability, according to a new report on Pakistan’s property market. The findings are contained in new research from Pakistan’s best property website, Lamudi.pk, which yesterday released its first annual report on the future of real estate in Pakistan.
The report was launched at a conference for the property industry hosted by Lamudi, held in Karachi on Friday, November 28. Country Director of Lamudi.pk, Saad Arshed, briefed leading real estate agents, developers and media about the findings of the research. Experts from the property and financial sectors were on hand to give presentations and share their views about Pakistan’s property market and the investment environment.
The report; Real Estate in the Emerging Markets, provides a comprehensive overview of the property sector in 16 emerging countries, including Pakistan. The report is based on a series of online surveys conducted with house-hunters and real estate agents in each country, as well as onsite data from Lamudi’s global network of websites. The research examines the habits of online property-seekers, while offering insights into the future of the property sector, based on interviews and surveys with local property experts.
The customer survey examined house-hunting habits among buyers and renters in Pakistan. Safety emerged as the most important factor for those who are looking for a new home. Whether they are buying or renting, the most important factor for all Pakistani house-hunters when choosing where to live is safety. More than 40 percent of survey respondents said this was the deciding factor when choosing where to live.
The second survey, targeting real estate agents, revealed the extent to which the property market has moved online. While traditional methods of finding property, such as using brokers and newspaper classifieds remain the most popular, online real estate listings are quickly catching up. Nearly all those surveyed expected the use of the Internet during the house-hunting process, to increase over the next decade.
Lamudi.pk Country Director, Saad Arshed, said: “The primary conclusion that we have drawn from our research is that the future for Pakistan’s property sector is extremely bright.
In fact, the majority of property agents we surveyed expect to see growth of more than six percent within the real estate sector this year. The country’s real estate market has emerged as one of the most promising in the South Asia region.”
The report also offers a series of in-depth interviews with key figures in global real estate. In Pakistan, Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD), Vice Chairman, Haris Mithani, was interviewed.
The full report is presented in an easy-to-read online format, available for viewing on the Lamudi website. Visit www.lamudi.pk/research.