Condo supply in Cambodia booms, but demand is low: report

PHNOM PENH, July 6 (FN) — The supply of condominiums in the Cambodian market has boomed in the first half of this year, but the demand is low, according to a research report released on Wednesday.

“The year 2016 marked a year of condominium market boom in term of off-plan launch, bringing about 13,730 of new unit supply into the market just in the first six months, up 52 percent over the same period last year,” said the report released by global real estate agent Century 21 (Cambodia).

“The largest-ever volume of new launches of condominium units in 2016 posed a hard time for primary demand to absorb the supply where only 13 percent of the total units launched were transacted, ” it said.

Kuy Vat, chairman and CEO of Century 21 (Cambodia), said that a low transaction-to-stock ratio was due to an enormous supply currently outstripping the demand.

“Nevertheless, the decrease in transaction volume during the first half of 2016 was caused by not only the recent market sentiment echoed following the external economic impacts, but also uncertainty over the property market by the next following years,” he said.

To date, there are 110 condo projects with a total of 36,742 units in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, the report said, adding that some 24 projects with 5,014 units had been completed and delivered to buyers, as the other projects are under construction.

The report said that some 70 percent of condo buyers are foreigners, particularly those from China, Japan, and Singapore.

In Phnom Penh, a one-bedroom unit with the size of about 50 square meters is averagely sold at 89,720 U.S. dollars, a two-bedroom condo with the size of 85 square meters costs 153,000 U.S. dollars, and a three-bedroom condo with the size of 129 square meters costs 270,890 U.S. dollars, the report said.