Studio Apartment Price in Lahore (2026): What You Actually Pay

Updated September 2026 · 9 min read · By The Rise Mall & Residencia

What counts as a studio apartment

A studio apartment puts the living area, sleeping area and kitchen in one room, with a separate bathroom. There is no legal definition of the word in Pakistani building regulation, which is why the same label is attached to units of very different sizes. On Zameen’s Lahore studio listings in September 2026, units sold as studios ran from 180 sq ft to well over 600 sq ft — but most sat between 220 and 400 square feet.

Because the word is loose, the only reliable comparison is the floor plan and the covered area in square feet. Ask for both before you compare prices. Two questions settle most of it:

• Is the kitchen separate or part of the main room? A partitioned kitchen makes a small unit feel larger and rents more easily.
• Is the quoted area covered area or carpet area? Covered area includes the walls and the unit’s share of common space; carpet area is the floor you can actually walk on. Prices are usually quoted per square foot of covered area.

What studios are actually selling for right now

At the end of September 2026 there were 381 studio apartments listed for sale in Lahore on Zameen, asking between Rs 42.5 lakh and Rs 2.25 crore. That range is so wide because it covers four very different markets. Converting each listing to a rate per square foot is what makes them comparable:

Asking prices listed on Zameen.com, read on 30 September 2026. Per-square-foot rates calculated from each listing’s own stated price and area. These are what sellers ask, not what buyers finally pay.

A studio on the Raiwind Road corridor therefore costs roughly a third of what the same unit costs in Gulberg or DHA Phase 5, for a rate of about Rs 14,000 to Rs 22,000 per square foot. That is the band any offer on this corridor should be judged against.

What a studio’s price is actually built from

Almost every apartment in Lahore is priced the same way: a rate per square foot, multiplied by the covered area of the unit.

That is why a studio in one building can cost less per month than a studio in another and still be the more expensive purchase. The rate per square foot is what you are really comparing, and it is driven by the things below.

Worked example: a published Lahore studio price

Here is a real, published price rather than an estimate. The figures come from the August 2026 payment plan of The Rise Mall & Residencia on Main Raiwind Road, Lahore, which sells studios in two sizes at Rs 18,000 per square foot on a 30-month plan.

The full schedule for the 305 sq ft studio shows where the money actually goes:

How to compare two studios fairly

Two projects quote you a studio. One says Rs 5.5 million, the other Rs 4.9 million. The cheaper one is not automatically the better buy. Put both through the same four steps:

1. Convert both to a rate per square foot. Divide the total price by the covered area. A Rs 4,900,000 studio of 240 sq ft is Rs 20,417 per sq ft — more expensive per foot than a Rs 5,490,000 studio of 305 sq ft at Rs 18,000.
2. Check what the area includes. Covered area and carpet area can differ by 20% or more. Compare like with like.
3. Add the cash you must find in the first year. Booking plus confirmation plus twelve monthly installments, plus any milestone likely to fall in that year.
4. Price the difference in delivery risk. A project with approvals in place and visible construction is worth more per square foot than a plan on paper.

Costs beyond the sticker price

The price in the payment plan buys the apartment. Owning it costs more, and these items are almost never in the brochure:

• Advance tax on the purchase. Under Section 236K of the Income Tax Ordinance, as amended by the Finance Act 2026, a buyer on the FBR’s Active Taxpayers List pays a flat 1.25% of fair market value from 1 July 2026 — the old value-based slabs are gone. Buyers who are not on that list pay several times more, so check your filer status early. The same Act abolished the “late filer” category and removed Section 7E.
• Stamp duty and registration under Punjab law when the title is transferred into your name. Published rates currently conflict — a 2026 provincial ordinance set duty at 1% province-wide while the Board of Revenue’s own FAQ still shows a much higher figure — so generate an e-stamp challan for your own transaction instead of relying on any article.
• Transfer fee charged by the developer if you buy from, or sell to, another buyer before possession.
• Monthly maintenance charges for lifts, security, cleaning, water and common areas. In a building with a pool, gym and backup power these are a real monthly cost — ask for the per-square-foot rate in writing.
• Utility connections and meters, where they are billed separately.
• Furnishing. A studio needs less of it than a house, but a bare unit still needs a kitchen, wardrobes and appliances before a tenant will pay full rent.

Studio as a rental: working out the yield

Studios are bought to live in and to rent out. If you are buying to rent, the number that matters is the gross rental yield:

Rents are the one figure you should never take from a brochure. Here is what the Lahore market looked like at the end of September 2026:

Asking rents on Zameen.com, 30 September 2026. Four listings is a thin sample — treat the Raiwind Road figures as indicative and check again when you are ready to let.

Put those two sides together for the published studio price above. A Rs 5,490,000 studio let at Rs 22,000 to Rs 35,000 a month produces Rs 264,000 to Rs 420,000 a year, which is a gross yield of roughly 4.8% to 7.6% before any costs. For comparison, the Global Property Guide put the average gross yield on Lahore studios at 5.53% in its March 2026 update, and notes that net yields usually land 1.5 to 2 percentage points below gross once costs are taken out.

Check comparable units yourself on a listings portal such as Zameen or Graana, then work the arithmetic:

1. Find at least three comparable studios for rent in the same area and take the middle figure, not the highest.
2. Multiply by 12, then subtract the months you expect the unit to sit empty between tenants.
3. Subtract annual maintenance charges and any tax on rental income.
4. Divide by the all-in purchase cost — price plus taxes, transfer fees and furnishing — not just the sticker price.

Considering a commercial unit instead of a residential one? The same building often sells shops at two to three times the apartment rate — our guide to buying a shop in a Lahore mall sets out the floor-by-floor difference.

Checklist before you book a studio

1. Approvals. Confirm the scheme is approved and ask to see the building’s approved plan. Our verified list of LDA-approved societies in Lahore is the first half of that check.
2. The exact unit. Floor, unit number and covered area written into the booking form — not just “a studio”.
3. The floor plan for that specific unit, with room dimensions.
4. The complete payment schedule, every amount against its due date or construction trigger.
5. Handover specification. Flooring, kitchen fittings, bathroom fittings, doors, paint.
6. Maintenance charges and what they cover, in rupees per square foot per month.
7. Parking. Whether a space is included, allotted or shared.
8. Delay terms. What you are owed in writing if possession is late.
9. Developer track record. Completed and handed-over projects, not only launches.
10. Payment channel. Pay into the company account through the bank, and keep every receipt.

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