Not so easy

Recently, a lot of middle and upper middle-class people have been entering into the real-estate business. These people, who have somehow put together the money to invest in this sector, are not schooled in matters of finance, business and economics. Quite often, they end up wasting their hard-earned money. Normally, people purchase a plot and keep it until real-estate prices go up, allowing them to sell the plot for a profit.

What many do not know is that as the price of the plot increases, it does not necessarily match the rate of inflation. Given that inflation has done nothing but increase in the past few decades, real estate is not the gold mine many Pakistanis think it is. While it is understandable that many see the sector as a safe bet, given the paucity of investment options in our moribund economy, they must ensure that they do their homework first.

Abdul Basit Khan

Islamabad