CH. I am sorry for misinterpreting the question. To be honest, when I had left Pakistan, there was very little going on in the lending market. It was the time, when banks were coming out with newer products for lending. A few years ago, car financing was unheard of. But in the last 3-5 years, primarily due to the push by Citibank, Car financing is very common now. Presumably, home loans are very quickly coming along too. By my estimate, the products are not as mature as in US, ofcourse, but they are available to some extent. Whether expat Pakistanis have access to such products, is something they need to check. As I said before, I will be very surprised if they have, but can't say for certain.
Degas.. I agree that Model Town, Zafar Ali Road, Gulberg are all great locations, but it will be extremely difficult to find open plots in those places. Even Garden Town and Muslim Town are getting tough. Cantt is also good, though open plots are very expensive. Defence is a great place to live. It is structured, rules are implemented without regard for status or position, its clean, and it has all facilities of a happening residential area. Beautiful houses, great landscaping and availability of all civic facilities make it a choice location, even though it is so far from the city centre (Mall Road and Bank Square etc). Their Z-block's commercial area is now as chic as any marketplace, with all name brands. And these are just a few reasons why the area commands such obscene values for plots and houses. Even Phase II, which is directly below the flight path and has horrible noise pollution, the plots are so expensive. Phase IV and V, even when they are at the very corner, near Packages, were sold like hot cakes when they had the balloting a few years ago.
Tech Society is good, howeever, it is far closer than Canalview, and even in Canalview the price of plot has sky-rocketed. EME, Johar Town, Wapda Town and Valencia are all nearby. If someone wants to invest less than Rs 10 lakhs, then they will be hard-pressed (in my view) to find anything there. Ofcourse, one can always get lucky. In most cases, they will have to move further down the canal, across Thokar Niaz Beg. Thats where Seth Abid's Green Forts and Izmir come into the picture. While I am suspicious abotu Seth Abid's projects, in general, Izmir and Valencia are very well run by their managament.
