The global financial meltdown will not leave Cambodia unscarred and among those affected will be property speculators.
"Asia bracing itself for downturn in property markets"
SATURDAY, 11 OCTOBER 2008
http://www.propertywire.com/news/asia/asia-downturn-property-markets-200810111830.html
Excerpts:
"In Cambodia the real estate boom which began in 2007 is over according to a leading economist and in the Philippines real estate professionals are calling for investment trusts to be approved in a bid to boost the market.
'Our property markets are closely connected with the stock markets in South Korea and other Asian countries. If these markets fall, we are affected,' Kang Chandararot, head economist at the Cambodia Institute of Development Study.
'Also South Korean and other Asian markets are very closely connected to the US and these countries are our biggest investors. We will see a recession in the short term, perhaps in six to 12 months,' he added.
From last Monday's (6 Oct) Phnom Penh Post:
Cheng Kheng, managing director of Cambodia Properties Ltd, said the gold and land markets are closely connected.
"I think the money of most business people is invested in the land market, and if current trends continue, the land market could collapse."
Quoted in "Gold sales slide as lower land prices keep investors away", written by Chun Sophal and Hor Hab
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2008100621973/Business/Gold-sales-slide-as-lower-land-prices-keep-investors-away.html
And yesterday's Khmer Intelligence News had this to say, although I could not verify its sources:
"Land prices, which have increased about ten-fold over the last five years, have started to fall markedly as a result of the world financial crisis and speculators being caught in a sudden property glut. An increasing number of projects are now stalled. In particular, Korean and Chinese investors, who have been most active in land development projects - which help launder
corruption and other illicit money along with the gambling industry - start to repatriate a portion of their funds. Many Cambodian people who mortgaged their houses to engage in land speculation are starting to feel the pinch, being unable to pay hefty interests on loans from their banks. After a sharp decline in the number of transactions, land prices are expected to fall between 30 and 50 percent in the next twelve months.
http://groups.google.com/group/camnews/browse_thread/thread/810f6b8aa0cffd0a?hl=en
2 comments:
well, it is better that the Cambodians wake up to the REAL world now than later, that the law of economics applies everywhere, and Cambodia is definitely NO exception.
Well commented Anonymous! They won't escape the world economic down-turn, even if they owned real estate properties on the moon... I do expect a 30% to 50% drop due to the simple fact that, there won't be any new monies coming in within the next 12 to 24 months.
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