Financing to SME builders in Pakistan through commercial banks and financial institutions is low. Builders and developers in Pakistan fund their projects out of their own equity, investor advances, and customer installments. The land is purchased usually on the equity of one or a pool of several builders, while the initial construction costs are covered through multiple bookings made by private investors at below-market rates for ongoing projects. Meanwhile, installments by buyers fund the rest of the project.

Affordable housing is direly absent, with the current regulatory environment unconductive to builders delivering and meeting the low-cost housing demand. The real estate sector is beset by ballooning property prices, less because of the rising cost of construction materials, and more because of mounting land prices that have historically been a casualty of speculative markets. Land is bought and resold many times over before any construction begins, which persistently pushes the prices upward.