Prime Minister Hun Sen operates a bulldozer at Monday’s Third Ring Road groundbreaking ceremony. HUN SEN’S FACEBOOK PAGE
Property insiders do not expect land prices along the area of the government’s Third Belt Road project to see a large increase in the short-term despite it breaking ground. They said prices in the area already boomed last year.
The government held a groundbreaking ceremony at the construction site on January 14, presided over by Prime Minister Hun Sen.
.jpg)
The 52.983km length of the belt road is expected to cost $273 million under concessional financing from China and a counterpart fund from the Cambodian government.
It connects National Road 4 to National Road 1, passing through 15.424km of Phnom Penh and 37.559km of Kandal Province. The starting point of this road is at Km14 of National Road 4 and the end point at Km24 of National Road 1.
Lucky Realty Co Ltd CEO Dith Channa said though the public may believe land prices along the project will rise, it should not be expected to do so in the short-term.
“The news of the project has been coming for a long time, so buying and selling around the area has been booming since then. This is why prices will not increase [in the short-term],” he said.
Channa said the price adjoining the project between National Highway 3 to National Road 4 stand at an average of $200 to $300 per sqm, while the segment between National Road 3 and Koh Anlong Chin island costs between $150 and $200.
Hence, he said the average value from Koh Anlong Chin to National Highway 1 is between $25 and $40.
“Compared to two or three months ago [prices have] not increased. But compared to the beginning of last year, they had increased from 30 to 50 per cent for the area between National Road 1 and Koh Anlong Chin. Prices in other regions grew by about 10-15 per cent,” he said.
Cambodian Valuers and Estate Agents Association (CVEA) president Chrek Soknim echoed Channa’s opinions, saying the land along the Third Belt Road was bought by traders and large investors from villagers long ago, so prices have not increased much.
“Prices now are stable. But they are very different compared to the end of 2017 when they increased two-fold or three-fold in some places,” he said.
Soknim said the land could cost between $30 and $100 per sqm.
