english_phnom penh condominium market report 2014_century 21 cambodia

The increasing demand on housing seems to be interre-lated with the increased number of households, whose trend has been steadily shifted from extended families to nuclear families, who potentially look to buy separated housing units for their own.

The supportive evidence from the report of land price survey in 2014 by a local real estate company showed up to 27% of the property sellers, both of whom are real estate and non-real estate individuals, are anticipating to buy another housing unit within the period of 2015 and 2016 (Seiha, Land Price 2014, 2014). The �gure might be translated that there is a trend among home buyers towards buying a house as an investment or relocating to another desirable housing unit.

RESEARCH REPORT | CONDOMINIUM | PHNOM PENH DECEMBER, 2014 | Page 1

Incomes of Professional Population in Phnom Penh

This �gure is the result of Restaurant Consumer Survey conducted by Park Cafe and authored by Hoem Seiha

Percentage of Property Seller Respondents Anticipating to Buy Another Housing Unit by 2015 to 2016

Source: Land Price Survey 2014 by VTRUST Group of Companies and authored by Hoem Seiha

MARKET OVERVIEWPhnom Penh’s Condominium market has boomed recently thanks to the increasing demand on housing of foreigners living and working in the Capital, the rising need of housing among the local population, the grow-ing interest for buying condominium units as an invest-ment, and the expected market demand bolstered by ASEAN market openness by the next coming year. Though sales of condo units have been reportedly successful, the cultural shift of domestic home-buyers towards moving to condominiums is not a trendy movement, and this might need another decade.

However, condominium market is seen to be potentially successful within the context of the Capital’s develop-ment trend, when planning satellite cities are sprawling out to the outskirts to ease tra�c tension. Within the central and commercial areas, Phnom Penh has been mapped out with high-rise development projects such as condomini-ums and commercial buildings to cope with space limita-tion.

Phnom Penh has seen a remarkable increase of demand on housing units, including condos, among local popula-tion as their incomes have been rising steadily. One of the fastest GDP growing in the world, Cambodian was predicted by International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reach 7.2% of GDP growth rate in 2014 (Sophirom, 2014), while annual GDP per capital was about US$1,130 (Xinhua Daily, 2014). According to a recent study by Park Café, 13% of the professional population in Phnom Penh City earned more than US$600 to US$1,000 per month, and another 6% of the population earned more than US$1,000 to US$2,000 per month (Seiha, Restaurant Consumer Survey 2014, 2014).


Available of longer-term housing loans by banks has largely contributed to the rising demand on housing, since this enables middle-income population to a�ord install-ment plans for housing and condominium units. Hous-ing loans soared up, reaching US$330 million in 2012, growing at an average of 20% year-on-year. In the �rst two months of 2013, the total housing loans grew at US$344.5 million (Kimsay, 2013).

Growth of Condominium Supply (in No. of Units Ready for Buyer and Owner Occupants; Y-o-Y)

Source: Condominium Market Study 2014 by Century 21 Cambodia

Cumumlative Growth of Condominium Supply (in No. of Units Ready for Buyer and Owner Occupants)


Phnom Penh has seen a remarkable increase of demand on housing units, including condos, among local popula-tion as their incomes have been rising steadily. One of the fastest GDP growing in the world, Cambodian was predicted by International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reach 7.2% of GDP growth rate in 2014 (Sophirom, 2014), while annual GDP per capital was about US$1,130 (Xinhua Daily, 2014). According to a recent study by Park Café, 13% of the professional population in Phnom Penh City earned more than US$600 to US$1,000 per month, and another 6% of the population earned more than US$1,000 to US$2,000 per month (Seiha, Restaurant Consumer Survey 2014, 2014).

SUPPLY

The existing market supply reached 13 completed condo projects with about 3,090 condo units as of fourth quarter of 2014, and many more condo units are expected to be ready for buyer occupants in the following years. The number of completed projects includes the partial comple-tion of Camko City R1, whose 9 high-rise condo towers have still been under construction.

By 2018, the total supply projected to be ready for owners will reach about 10,000 condo units. Currently, there are 30 condo projects, and 18 projects are under construction. There are a few more projects being studied for some feasibility by Asian investors from Macau, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and many others.

The year 2008 �rstly saw the development of De Castle Condominium in Touk Kork District, which came with the supply of approximately 300 condo units. In 2009, two projects of De Castle came to supply about 200 units. In 2010, Camko City R1, which was developed by World City Co. Ltd., brought the �rst ever enormous supply of well over 1,000 condo units into the Capital market. Although now it came up with 6 condominium towers,Camko City (R1) went behind the schedule that was projected to be completed in 2010. Then there were a steady growth of condominium supply from 2011 until 2013. From 2014 onwards, the condo market is projected to grow consider-ably due to further plans of major condominium develop-ment projects in the eastern part of Phnom Penh such as Bali Scenery (2016), Casa Meridian (2017), D.I. Rivera (2017), Diamond One (2017), and the Bridge (2018).


The average growth rate of condominium supply from 2008 to 2014 is 20% year-over-year. This is due to some �uctuation of the supply year-over-year, when a few of the years came up with too positive growth, while others saw too much decline. However, from 2015 to 2018 the aver-age growth rate of the supply is more stable, growing at 40% pace year-over-year.

DEMAND

Demand of condominium units has increased steadily even if there is currently an oversupply. Speculators believe that the demand of condos will strongly increase in Phnom Penh thanks to ASEAN connectivity when many investment and business opportunities arise.

Sale rate of the condo units (both o�-plan and post-plan sales) has been reported by developers to reach an average sold-out rate of 70%. However, most of the condo-minium buildings are still largely vacant because of two reasons. First, many of the condo buyers are international purchasers who buy condo units for investments or expect to resell at pro�table prices. Second, there is a slow cultural shift among local population towards relocating to residing in condominiums.

Despite the high rate of reported sales by condominium developers, it is found that the some of the reported �gures are those bookings with small deposits rather actual sales transactions whose rate remains low.

Status of Condominium Developments


As of fourth quarter of 2014, out of the total condo projects, 64% of them are still under construction process and expected to be �nished by from 2015 to 2018.

MARKET ENVIRONMENT

Condominium market is still at a nascent stage and is projected to be well-saturated by the next 10 years. Although positive with the increasing disposable incomes, the trend of Cambodian population towards residing in condominiums is still a long way from condo popularity. Most of buyers of luxurious condo units are local and international investors who intend to purchase for investment opportunities either as for rent or resell at pro�table prices.

Based on the study, while 5% of the projects have gone behind the schedule, 31% of the condo projects were already complete and ready for buyer occupants. Although some of the projects who condominium units were reported to be sold out entirely, there have still been many rooms going with light-o� at night.

SIZES OF CONDOMINIUM UNITS

Condominium developments in Phnom Penh come with di�erent ranges of unit sizes. Similar to serviced apartments, average size of one-bed room condo units is about 80sqm, while that of two-bedroom units is 120sqm. And average size of three-bedroom units is 190sqm.

For minimum size, one-bedroom units often come up with 50sqm, while that of two-bed room units is about 65sqm. The minimum size for three-bedroom condo units is 90sqm.

The maximum size of condominium units starts with 150sqm for one-bedroom units, while 200sqm for two-bedroom units. The three-bedroom, the units usually come up with 440sqm to 500sqm.

Penthouses usually have the same sizes of two and three bedroom units. Also o�ered for sales in the market, there are some four-bedroom units, while De Castle Royal has o�ered up to �ve to eight-bedroom units with about 400sqm to 500sqm.


Size Range of Condo Units (in sqm)


CONDOMINIUM PRICES

Average asking price of the condominium units in Phnom Penh was about US$1,900 per square meter. Some of the condos ask for of US$1,100 per square meter, which is the minimum market price, while luxu-rious condominium developments such as The Bridge o�er asking prices at US$3,300 per square meter, the highest in the current market

Price Range of Condominium Units (per sqm


By unit, at average condo developers o�er US$250,000 per unit (usually two-bedroom units). The minimum asking price of condominium units is $21,000 per unit, o�ered by Condo 999 Project, while the maximum asking price reaches slightly over US$1 million, o�ered by De Castle Royal, Casa Meridian, and The Bridge.

Price Range of Condominium Units (per unit)


SCALES OF CONDOMINIUM PROJECTS

Condominium development is often among the large-scale investments in residential property developments such as major gated �at houses and shop houses. For condo development, the smallest project ever was made by US$10 million. The medium scale project was made by US$70 million, while the 75%-scaled project was about US$250 million. The largest project ever was made with US$700 million development of D.I. Rivera.

Most of the condo development projects in Cambodia depend on pre-sales and o�-plan sales to fund the whole projects.

Investment Value of Condominium Projects (based on current market)


CONDOMINIUM CONCENTRATIONS

In the past six years, the development of condominiums concentrated in the western part of Phnom Penh, namely Toul Kork, where a few of De Castle developments �rst started in the Capital. Known as the most desirable residen-tial area home to many of the rich and elite, Toul Kork was favored by developers thanks to its non-commercial district nature ideal for residential purpose among expats and elite.


Condominium Development Concentration by Phnom Penh's District (by 2018)


Condominium Development Concentration by Commune (by 2018)


In the meantime, the direction of condo developments also shifted to the north-western part of the Phnom Penh, where Korean developer World City Co., Ltd. started its satellite city called “Camko City” in Toul Sangker of Russey Keo’s District, bringing thousands of housing units to the area also adjacent to Toul Kork District. By the end of 2014, the supply of condominiums (only completed projects) concentrated more in Touk Kork District, repre-senting 38% of the total projects. In Russey Keo District, there were 23% of the major developments namely Camko City, Galaxy Residence, and Mekong View Tower.

Although mid-high apartment buildings dominated Boeng Keng Kang areas (Chamkarmorn), there were not many high-rise condo developments due to constrained permit to height of construction within the areas. In Boeng Keng Kang communes, the supply of condominiums was about 23% of the completed projects. There were only 8% of the condo developments in Daun Penh District and another 8% in Po Senchey.

By 2018, the developments of condominiums will change direction from the West to the East of Phnom Penh. It is projected to be more than 50% of the total condo supply concentrating in Chamkarmorn District, followed by 38% of Toul Kork.

By communes (Sangkat), most of condominiums will concen-trate in Tonle Bassac (28%), the majority of which are on Diamond Island, and Boeng Keng Kang areas (24%). Condo developments will also be concentrated in other communes such as Oulympik (10%) and Chroy Changva (10%).

The rapid shift of the direction of condominium concen-tration to the East is due to the recent major develop-ments in Tonle Bassac, especially on Diamond Island, where a number of international community development projects have been mapped and due to completion within the next 5 years. This further attracts both invest-ments and developers to potentially map out many other projects in the eastern part of the Capital.


MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS

Recent major developments of condominiums have shifted its concentration to the East of the Capital. Such develop-ments are The Bridge, D.I. Rivera, Casa Meridian, Diamond One, and Bali Scenery.

In the commercial district part of Phnom Penh, especially Oulympik Commune, there are some recent major develop-ments such Olympia City, Sky Villa, and Times Centre, all of which will bring about thousands of housing and condominium units

De�nitions

In Cambodia, a condominium is usually a high-rise building with multi-freehold strata tittles allowed for both foreign and domestic owners. Some of the condominiums are 99-year strata leasehold properties. This term is di�erent from an apartment (usually serviced apartment), which is usually owned by only one legal owner. This type of property is usually has multi leasehold units aimed for rental purposes.

Kimsay, H. (2013, April 18). Mortgage boom in Cambodia. Retrieved December 1, 2014, from Phnom Penh Post: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/real-estate/mortgage-boom-cambodia

Seiha, H. (2014). Land Price 2014. VTRUST Journal of Real Estate.

Seiha, H. (2014). Restaurant Consumer Survey 2014. Phnom Penh: Park Cafe.

Sophirom, K. (2014, February 4). IMF: Cambodia’s GDP Growth To Reach 7.2% This Year. Retrieved December 1, 2014, from Phnom Penh Post: http://www.akp.gov.kh/?p=41613

Xinhua Daily. (2014, August 19). Cambodia's GDP per capita to hit 1,130 USD in 2014: PM. Retrieved December 1, 2014, from The Cambodia Herald: http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/cambodias-gdp-per -capita-to-hit-1130-usd-in-2014:-pm-7168

FURTHER READINGS

Disclaimer

Century 21 Cambodia informs that the information, including �gures, statistics and opinions, is that expressed by the authors of this publication and does not re�ect Century 21’s points of view. Therefore, Century 21 does not guarantee or bear any responsibility for any failures pertaining to the decisions made in accordance with the information contained herein.

Building Total Units

(Residential) Avg. Price (per sqm) Location

Developer

Completion

Tonle Bassac Worldbridge Land, Oxley International Holdings

Diamond Island

OCIC

Diamond Island

M.D. H.K Property

Diamond Island

Xin Tian Jian (Cambodia) Real Estate Development Co, Ltd., & OCIC

Tonle Bassac Bali Resort

The Bridge 762 US$3,000 2018

D.I. Rivera 900 US$2,500 2017

Casa Meridian 414 US$2,000 2017

Diamond One 372 US$1,500 2017

Bali Scenery 522 $1,500 2016