In a bid to enhance coverage and widen its data bank, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday said that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with online real estate portal Zameen.com aimed at offering real-estate indices on its website.

“According to the MoU, Zameen.com will provide data on the prices and rental costs of residential and commercial properties in the country’s metropolitan areas,” said a statement from the SBP.

“This data will subsequently be used by SBP to analyse house prices, develop related indices and use the information in its publications, working papers and reports.”

The central bank said it aims to upload the aggregate house price and rental indices on its data portal — Easydata.

SBP Deputy Governor (Policy) Dr Murtaza Syed said the real-estate sector was under-researched in Pakistan due to a number of factors including paucity of available data, expressing hope that the MoU would help fill these gaps.

“In the absence of dependable information on price trends in the real sector, the understanding on households’ asset allocation decisions become difficult,” he was quoted as saying.

Zameen.com CEO Zeeshan Ali Khan said he was delighted to have entered into a partnership with the SBP to provide invaluable data to help it make informed decisions and draft effective policies.

Last month, Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) formally launched property as a new sector for non-REIT real estate-related listed companies.

This was an attempt to distinctly represent the important element of real estate and construction in PSX.