Unlike Past Elections, Property Investors Remain Buoyant
Ahead of elections 10 years ago, people across the country would hoard rice in case the vote sent the country spiraling into a state of turmoil. Businesses across the country would bide their time before making any major investments. And those who could afford to would leave the country during the election period in case things took a turn for the worse. But after 20 years of CPP rule, the levels of anxiety that once reverberated during election time have subsided. Across Phnom Penh, sizeable building projects are steadily rising from the ground and investors said Thursday they were unperturbed by the prospect of political change. … One measure of how buoyant people are can be seen in the price of land. According to figures provided by Bonna Realty Group, Phnom Penh land prices have increased by 25 percent in the six months preceding this year’s elections. Phalla Udom, a supervisor at Bona Realty … said … that land in central areas such as Phnom Penh’s Boeng Keng Kang 1 commune currently sells for $3,300 per square meter, up from about $2,800 six months ago. A flurry of construction projects launched recently have also fueled land prices in the city’s outskirts, such as in Sen Sok and Pur Senchey districts, where prices have increased by 25 percent to $1,000 per square meter in the past six months. In May, South Korea’s Booyoung Group broke ground on a $1.1 billion satellite city in Sen Sok district along Russian Boulevard, the second such development to break ground in Phnom Penh that month. …
