Pakistan Property Exhibition in Abu Dhabi offers discounts

Senior executives take a final look at pavilions at the Pakistan Property Exhibition in Abu Dhabi.

Pakistani expatriates in the UAE who missed the opportunity to buy a house at the recently-concluded Pakistan Property Show in Dubai will have a second chance to grab one next week.

This time around, UAE-based Pakistanis can head to the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec) over the weekend to scour through property bargains during the third edition of the three-day Pakistan Property Exhibition which will run from November 2 to 4.

More than 25 developers will showcase and sell their projects at the exhibition. A few prominent ones among them are DHA, Model housing Lahore, New Lahore City and Bahria Town. The exhibitors will also feature exclusive spot sales, discounts and easy monthly payment plans for visitors.

A survey conducted during last year's exhibition revealed that 25 per cent of Pakistani investors preferred housing plots, 45 per cent opted for villas and the remaining 35 per cent invested in apartments.

There are approximately 1.3 million Pakistanis living in the UAE, making up one of the largest expatriate communities in the country.

"Studies have continuously shown new global trends that the real estate market in Pakistan is tapping. Apart from new demographic movements, Pakistan has also witnessed a heavy intercity migration over the last five years due to security and economic benefits that specific cities offer. The specialised pavilion at the International Real Estate and Investment Show aims to attract more than 6,000 Pakistani investors from the UAE," said Antoine Georges, managing director of Dome Exhibitions.

The Pakistan property market is estimated to be worth approximately $700 billion and expatriate Pakistanis play a big role in driving investment into the sector.

Out of $19 billion (Dh69.73 billion) remittances sent every year, around $4.3 billion (Dh15.78 billion) comes from the UAE and $5 billion from Saudi Arabia, making up around half of remittances from this region alone.

An analysis showed that around 20 to 25 per cent of these remittances go to real estate investments, said Zeeshan Ali Khan, co-founder, Zameen.com, Pakistan's largest property portal.

- waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com