Property prices increased in 20 cities

Karachi:           The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has revised valuation tables for property in 20 cities, including Gwadar, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, and Karachi. The tax collecting body notified regarding the new rates on Tuesday – the rates took effect from Wednesday.

With new valuation tables, property prices have come as close to the market rates as 80%; these prices were hardly 10% a few years ago. In some areas of Karachi, the new rates have even surpassed the actual market value, which is something that needs to be addressed, Chairman Association of Builders and Developers Mohammad Hussain Bakshi said.

It is to be noted that the government has already planned to bring the property rates to around 85% of the actual market value in the fiscal budget 2019-20.

In addition to provincial and federal capitals, valuation tables for the commercial and residential properties in Abbottabad, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Gujrat, Hyderabad, Jhang, Jhelum, Mardan, Multan, Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi, Sahiwal, Sargodha, Gujranwala, and Sukkur have also been revised.

According to the revised valuation tables, the worth of residential plots (open and built-up) in Karachi has increased by up to 8% to 44%.

When approached for a comment on the revised tables, real estate agents called it a positive measure, though they expect further steps from the government in order to restore confidence in the market. In DHA City, the actual market prices for plots of some areas were already below the FBR valuation. With revised rates, the difference has considerably increased, a real estate agent said. He added that after an asset declaration scheme, people do have the capital to invest, but they would surely require market stability.