Home is where the heart is, but in our part of the world, it looks like our heart is in the real estate business, not a place to be called sweet home. Pakistan faces a staggering shortfall of over 12 million homes, yet people continue to pour their savings into property instead of building homes to live in. Who should be blamed for creating this plot buying trend? The media cannot even name the name behind those big real estate businesses. A recent decline in lending rates has made real estate even more attractive for investment. Builders and developers see this as an opportunity to revive the housing sector, which could create jobs and boost over 70 allied industries. However, the real issue remains affordability. Low-income families still struggle to own a home, and banks remain hesitant to offer mortgage loans due to the high risk of default. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has shown interest in reviving the sector but wants to avoid speculative trading. The Association of Builders and Developers has been asked to submit revised proposals. Their chairman believes that with government support, subsidized financing could once again make housing affordable. The previous government’s policies helped finance over 31,000 houses at fixed rates, but such large-scale financing is challenging. The cement industry, operating at just 30 per cent of its capacity, shows the sluggish pace of construction. Despite this, property prices in Pakistan are still lower than in the Middle East. If the government and banks work together to introduce long-term, affordable mortgage solutions, homeownership could become a reality for millions. For now, housing remains a dream – distant dream, sweet dream – for many. People buy plots, wait for prices to rise and sell them off-never building a single brick. Everywhere people keep talking about houses, but all we really have are papers, files, stamp papers, and allotment letters. *