Since last quarter (July-September 2018) there is a surge in real estate & property business. We as property developers entered into this business 3 years back when this business was at its lowest ebb. Hitherto, it was the only profitable business where people were willingly investing both from home & abroad. But it was purposefully eroded through levying taxes, filer conditions & other regulatory strangleholds by the last govt. People were deterred and discouraged which resulted in nearly three years' slump in this business. Consequently, money laundering became the only way forward for profitable investments. Investors were left with no choice but to launder money to Dubai & Europe. Hence, we witnessed money laundering bonanza in past decade. Expats lost faith in the property investments. Part of the reason was collusion of Bharia Town with PPP Government where both made biblical hay till the sun shone over Mr Zardari's fluke cum genius tenure. Bharia Town left its entire market to handful/ faithful investors who created fake bubbles & burst them at will as & when they wanted. Since Bharia Town had become a brand to reckon with, it pocketed unreal profits through its loyal but brainless avaricious investors. It was a flawed strategy which thwarted small scale investor and the most important person in the whole equation; the end user. Rest of the damage was done by one of the four notorious Ps i.e. Property Dealers ( other three are politicians, prostitutes & press-titutes). They are so amazing at their art that truth sounds outlandish & too good to be true in the face of their lies. People interested in buying property of any type or scale happily get deceived by falsehood than listening to plain truth. This disease is here to stay & there seems no good end in sight.
However, above stated doom & gloom might prove the darkest hour before dawn. Good news is that in last quarter things are changing with Tabdeeli. According to property data wizards, half of the expats remittances are being invested in property in Pakistan. Association of Overseas Pakistanis (OAP) is actively promoting real estate investment opportunities among expats. It deserves due credit towards restoration of lost confidence in this business.
Other good news is that monopoly of Bharia Town owing to its over reliance on its core investors is withering away. New, more efficient, reliable & profitable real estate brands are available in market. For laymen, its best advised to size up the credentials of both developer & marketeers before deciding to invest in any project. Both should have delivered in their respective domains because for those who have had completed / delivered projects in the past, repute matters a lot and this is where you can confidently invest.
Tabdeeli government also seems keen on promulgating easy regulations on real estate & property development business; glimpse of which was visible in mini-budget where non-filers have been allowed purchase of property. Plus its ambitious 5 million housing units construction plan can only work through private-public partnership where govt allocates land, developers & marketeers get their share on investment/ effort. And ordinary people get easy installment plans for owning a home. This subject warrants a full blog entry which shall follow soon.
Bottom line is, its good time for investment in property of any size & budget. At the turn of the year in just three months, prices of property are going to gain 10-15% in their current prices which is not bad at all. Remember, its always the timing in investment that matters & fruition of investment in property is linked again with timing & patience.
Only Allah knows the whole Truth.
