KARACHI: A Shariah-compliant Pakistani property investment offering was fully subscribed within the first hour of book building on Tuesday, its manager said, as the scheme moves toward a listing on the Pakistan Stock Exchange.
Naya Nazimabad Apartment REIT, or NNAR, allows investors to invest in large residential property developments without buying an apartment, plot or building themselves. Investors instead buy units representing a stake in a professionally managed pool of property projects.
The scheme is now offering 15 percent of its units for sale ahead of its planned stock-market listing, with institutional and high-net-worth investors bidding first and a portion subsequently being offered to the general public.
“The book-building portion of the Naya Nazimabad Apartment REIT received an overwhelming response from institutional and high-net-worth investors, with the offering becoming fully subscribed within the first hour of bidding,” Arif Habib Dolmen REIT Management Limited, which manages the scheme, said in a statement.
Unlike a rental property fund, which primarily earns money by collecting rent, NNAR is a developmental real estate investment trust. Its underlying projects develop residential properties for sale, with the proceeds and gains generated by those developments accruing to the investment scheme and its unitholders.
For Pakistan, where property has traditionally been a major destination for household savings, such funds offer investors exposure to real estate without requiring the capital needed to purchase an entire property. A stock-market listing also allows investors to buy and sell their units, providing greater liquidity than directly owning an apartment or plot.
NNAR is structured to comply with Islamic financial principles, meaning its investments and financing must avoid interest and other activities prohibited under Shariah law. The structure provides another avenue into property for investors seeking Shariah-compliant financial products.
The scheme holds three real estate portfolios across Karachi and Lahore with a cumulative assessed value of approximately Rs20.46 billion ($73.4 million) as of April 2026, according to its manager.
A total of 44.06 million units are being offered for sale, representing 15 percent of the scheme. Of these, 33.05 million units, or 75 percent of the offering, have been allocated to institutional and high-net-worth investors through the two-day book-building process that began on Sept. 1.
The units are being offered within a price band of Rs18-23 ($0.06-$0.08) each, putting the total value of the offering at approximately Rs793 million-Rs1.013 billion ($2.8 million-$3.6 million), depending on the final strike price.
The remaining 11.02 million units will be offered to the general public at the price determined through the institutional book-building process.
Pakistan has sought to deepen its Islamic capital markets as part of a broader shift toward Shariah-compliant finance. Islamic banking assets reached Rs14.47 trillion ($51.9 billion) at the end of 2025, accounting for 22.9 percent of the country's total banking assets, according to official data.
The push has gained additional impetus from a constitutional requirement for Pakistan to eliminate interest, or riba, from its economy by the end of 2027, increasing the importance of developing Shariah-compliant banking and investment products.
