Global mega trends will change the real estate landscape considerably in the next six years and beyond. The changing landscape will have major implications for real estate investment and development. It will increase the size of the asset pool, yet change the nature of investment opportunities.
Real estate organisations will need to adapt early to survive and prosper. It is just because of the fact that the real estate market will become far bigger and more global. It is a forecast that institutional-grade real estate will expand to US$45.3 trillion in 2020 and then grow further to US$69.0 trillion in 2030. For the real estate investment community, this expansion will lead to a much greater range of opportunities.
Sub-sector themes will emerge which can be exploited on a global basis. Specialists are already emerging in areas such as agriculture, education, retirement villages, high-end shopping centres and new urban development. In future, these themes will become far more established. What’s more, the real estate investment community will be able to match them to their own specific needs – for example for funds with shorter maturities and differing return profiles.
Global construction output is expected to almost double to US$15 trillion by 2025, up from US$8.7 trillion in 2012.5 Emerging markets will be the fastest growing region, but sub-Saharan Africa is expected to be the second highest.
But urbanization is not just an emerging markets’ phenomenon. The developed world’s cities are growing at a huge rate as well. London’s population, for example, is forecast to rise to 10 million by 2031, up from 8.3 million today.
Much of this population rise comes from the overspill of the new wealthy in, and from, emerging markets, seeking a luxury home in Europe. In 2013, some US$35.7 billion of cross-border capital was invested in London, making it the top recipient of capital worldwide. In the US, developments such as New York’s Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project will expand the cities.
Similarly, in Pakistan, Real Estate is a major source of employment both directly and through the associated industries upon which it depends. Yet, it is also a sector that until recently has been severely undocumented, and one upon whose fortunes Pakistan’s population is dependent for its well-being. In terms of housing, three significant trends are apparent.
The trend of buying luxury apartments has increased by nearly seven to nine percent in Pakistan in the last decade, primarily due to an increasing demand for secure, well-maintained housing units; it is therefore not surprising that between 2010 and 2016, apartment prices increased by 120%, while houses registered a much slower increase, at 80% (source: Pakistan Economic Survey,2016).
Traditionally, apartment projects were mostly limited to Karachi, as cultural preferences in Lahore and Islamabad were for horizontal residential projects. However, with the rapid urban sprawl, cities have become congested, land prices are going up, and the apartment living trend is swiftly gaining traction in these cities as well. In fact, in the last five years alone, the demand for apartments has gone up by nearly 30%, which has given rise to an increasing number of newly constructed high-rise luxury apartments in Lahore and Islamabad.
Clearly, gated housing communities are an important trend that cannot be ignored. Industry experts estimate that between 2015 and 2016 alone, investment in these schemes increased by 15 to 20%, and almost 15 such projects were completed within the last two years.
Offering privacy, prestige and protection, gated communities have taken off in a big way in Lahore, Faisalabad, Islamabad and Rawalpindi, where the presence of a sizeable and affluent business community has triggered the development of villas within gated communities.
Prices for these luxury homes range from Rs 2.8 million (for schemes located in the outskirts) to Rs 33 million. This is not to say that gated communities have not taken root in Karachi. Bahria Town, DHA City, Fazaia Housing Scheme and Naya Nazimabad are some of the most sought-after residential communities in the city.
Keeping the emerging global and Pakistani trends in real estate sector, The Melange Business Consultancy and Remax Group have joined hands to serve the customers globally. In this connection, both the Groups have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to cooperate with each other in real estate and construction sectors.
Melange Business Consultancy is expert in real estate development, town planning, energy, mining, foreign investment, trade, commerce, industrial production, project management, architectural and interior designing, architectural landscape, furniture production and supply, product designing, PR and event management, company registration, gem stones and many many others.
Having the experience of a number of years of servicing corporate client in seeking their office requirements, Melange Business Consultancy is in a position to fully understand the requirements of the customer and find the right business premises.
RE/MAX was founded in 1973 by Dave and Gail Liniger, with an innovative, entrepreneurial culture affording its agents and franchisees the flexibility to operate their businesses with great independence. Over 115,000 agents provide RE/MAX a global reach of more than 100 countries and territories. Nobody sells more real estate than RE/MAX when measured by residential transaction sides.
RE/MAX, one of the world’s leading franchisors of real estate brokerage services, is controlled and managed by RE/MAX Holdings, Inc with a passion for the communities in which its agents live and work. RE/MAX Europe, founded by Frank Polzler and Walter Schneider, owners of RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic and nine RE/MAX state in the USA, was established in 1994 in Vienna, Austria where their Headquarters are based today.
As per MoU both the organizations would cooperate in property for sale, buying a property, purchasing procedure, promise and deed of sale, guide buyers guide, selling a property and other sectors.
Overall goal of MoU is not only to be a leader in real estate markets but to continue to set the pace in the real estate industry by not only introducing innovative ways of buying and selling real estate but also by providing sales and letting associates ground-breaking tools and education so to empower them to thrive in their own real estate careers and provide an unsurpassed real estate service to the general public.
Both the companies will provides a fully comprehensive real estate service to the general public, by operating in a strategic manner. The art technology will provide customers with an extensive and up-to-date database of residential and commercial property for sale round the globe and database will cater for all kind of properties ranging from the standard accommodation, to the middle market, to the most luxurious of homes.
Furthermore, the MoU will also facilitate both Pakistani and European investors to invest in either side because Europeans have always been keenly interested in Pakistani market and in the past decades has gradually increased its’ positioning, becoming one of the top ten global trading partners of Pakistan and the third amongst the EU member States with a growing trade exchange.
Hence, over the years, European companies have been looking more and more at Pakistan for trade and investments; Energy remains today the most important sector, while alternative energies, including solar, wind and bio-gas, are acquiring a growing importance in our commercial relations.
The Pharmaceutical sector maintains a relevant position in our bilateral trade relations with some of the main Italian companies, operating on the Pakistani market since the 1980s. Also the Automotive sector plays a leading role, as well as Textile: most spinning mills successfully of Pakistan employ European machinery.
Moreover, GSP Plus (Generalized System of Preferences – Plus) , will probably boost the country’s economy, by allowing a high number of lines of products (especially from the textile sector) to enter free of duty into the EU market.
The MoU aims to give an outlook of the economic frameworks in which Pakistani and European businessmen can operate in both countries, and it will certainly help the ones willing to approach these markets to better understand opportunities and challenges.
It is pertinent to note here that EU-Pakistan bilateral trade relations are governed by the Cooperation Agreement from 2004. Enhancing bilateral trade and investment is also part of the EU-Pakistan 5 Year Engagement Plan from 2012 . Pakistan is a major beneficiary of the trading opportunities offered by the E Generalized Scheme of Preferences GSP.
From 1 January 2014 Pakistan benefits from generous tariff preferences (mostly zero duties on two thirds of all product categories) under the so-called GSP+ arrangement aiming to support sustainable development and good governance. In order to maintain GSP+ Pakistan has to keep ratification and effectively implement 27 core international conventions on human and labour right, environmental protection and good governance.
The EU being Pakistan’s most important trading partner takes 21.2% of Pakistan’s total exports.
Bilateral trade volume between EU-Pakistan increased by almost 4.7% annually between 2007 and 2011. Pakistani exports to the EU are dominated by textiles and clothing as well as leather products. Textiles and clothing account for just fewer than 75% of Pakistan’s exports to the EU. Pakistan’s imports from the EU mainly comprise mechanical and electrical machinery as well as chemical and pharmaceutical products.