UAE expats drive up house prices in Pakistan

A soft Dubai property market is encouraging Pakistan expatriates in the UAE to invest back home. This, in turn, is pushing up property prices in Pakistan, resulting in values almost doubling in some areas.

Higher demand, especially in Karachi and Islamabad, was driving prices higher on a daily basis, according to property brokers and developers quoted in a report that appeared on Dawn.com. In contrast, residential prices in Dubai have fallen by up to 15 to 20 per cent in recent months.

According to a Dubai annual market update issued in midDecember, average residential property prices have fallen 16 per cent and 14 per cent year on year for apartments and villas, respectively, while overall unit transactions declined by 33 per cent.

"Ample liquidity for property investment is pushing prices up everywhere, particularly in Karachi and Islamabad," said Ashraf Hameed, the director of property developer Value Housing. He cited closer monitoring of the cross-border movement of money and improved law and order situation as reasons behind the uptrend. "We have no problem of law and order in Islamabad while the situation in Karachi has also improved significantly," he added.