Is security biggest priority in real estate search?

[Salman]

Whether it is buying, selling or investing in property, security is the prime concern for almost everyone in the country today. This is also the crux of the most popular locations in Lahore as per Zameen.com’s search trends.

The data from Zameen.com, one of Pakistan’s premier property websites, shows that this year so far, Defence Housing Authority (DHA) has been the most popular localities of Lahore. The property website has come up with a monthly figure for most popular areas in Lahore by taking total area searches on its website as a percentage of total Lahore searches in a certain month.

While talking to BR Research, Zeeshan Ali Khan-–Co-founder and CEO at Zameen.com—emphasised whether it is a residential plot or a commercial property and whether it is for buying/selling or rental purposes, DHA is a preferred choice due to security concerns. However, the popularity of DHA is not a new phenomenon; Khan further highlighted that the reputation of DHA-Lahore started way back in 2006 and has continued till now due to its transparent transactional procedures.

Bahria Town Lahore, which is on the next rung of the popularity ladder in Lahore, also shares these advantages of secured area and transparent buying and selling processes, capital appreciation and high return on investment (ROI) with DHA Lahore. But, while Bahria Town does have its charms of a gated community, its biggest drawback is its distance from the city. The travelling time and the associated costs is the biggest reservation of the people.

The third most popular area of Lahore as per Zameen.com’s data is Johar Town, which is closely followed by Cantt area. While security is the top priority for choosing these locations, Johar Town is also popular for the easy access and availability of amenities and utilities. Also, Johar Town has the highest rental yields among the four most popular areas in review due to good rents and comparatively lower property prices in the area.

It is pertinent to iterate here that DHA appears to be the safe haven not only for Lahore city, but for other cities like Karachi where the law-and-order situation is at a completely different level. Since it is the least affected areas in Karachi, it has witnessed not only significant influx of people from other vulnerable areas of the metropolis, but also business and retail investment in the last few years.

Similarly, the disadvantage of Bahria Town regarding distance and commuting is shared all across the country wherever Malik Riaz has landed his residential girders; Bahria Town Islamabad and Bahria Town Karachi (under-construction) are also farther away from their main cities. It would be a safe assumption to make: if these distances were less, the popularity of Bahria’s gated community would have been higher!

From the data and the available information, it seems that the popularity of localities can be linked to the security situation of these areas and can be derived of its share in total searches on the website by the prospective customers. However, the picture would become clearer, and some major assumptions would be answered, if the source of these searches—precisely the IP regions from where these searches emerged these areas-–were known.