Financier Arif Habib excited by doubling land prices in Karachi

Karachi

PAKISTANI financier Arif Habib's bet on Karachi's real estate is paying off as land prices in the nation's financial capital surge amid rising demand and an improving security situation.

Prices for Mr Habib's development in a 1,300-acre property at the northern tip of the city have more than doubled since 2012. Mr Habib's Javedan Corp's project called Naya Nazimabad offered plots for 6,800 rupees (S$137) an acre four years ago, at a time when regular bomb blasts killed and maimed city residents. The plots are now selling for 20,000 rupees, Mr Habib said. In Mumbai, India's financial capital, property prices rose just 19 per cent in the period.

"The most exciting is real estate" of the 13 companies the group manages, Mr Habib, the 63-year-old chief executive officer of Arif Habib Corp, said in an interview in his office in Karachi. "Real estate development margins are good and you feel good in contrib…