CVEA Signs Mou to Sell 4 Major Projects

• Proeksa Meas
• 31 December 2015
• Local News
• 1747 Views

After granting the rights for its members to sell units in the The Bay project, the CVEA has brought a further three large-scale projects to its members to sell.

In an MoU dated 26 June, the Cambodia Valuers and Estate Agents (CVEA) Association provided rights for it 80 member agencies to sell units in TK Royal One, CA&SA, and AXIS Residence condominiums.

The MoU means that any real estate companies which register with the association are automatically permitted to trade these four projects. This development is one of many significant reforms in the CVEA under the leadership of Mr. Sok Bun, who is also the executive director of Teho-SBG Development Co., ltd that is developing the $500m The Bay project.

While real estate agencies have traditionally approached developers, this new CVEA strategy brings developers directly to agents.

Established in 2007, CVEA member Khmer Real Estate has a three-year contract as the exclusive sales agent for TK Royal One condominiums.

Developed and financed by Cambodian-Taiwanese development company TC Royal Manor Asset Management, which has over 30 years of experience in Taiwan’s real estate market, the luxury residential and office building contains 19 floors including another 4 underground floors that can accommodate 200 cars and 286 motorbikes.

With its prime location along Russian Federation Boulevard in front of the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP), the development offers great convenience for tenants to live in or for investors to lease back.

The condominium consists of 183 units; 40 office units, 132 condos, and 11 penthouses. Units are typically 120 sqm, including 20-25 percent floppy space, at a cost of $2,200 per square metre for the net area. The floppy area is provided free for owners. Units come fully furnished with international standard furniture, and local and international buyers will receive a freehold hard title.

“Buyers need only to deposit 15 percent of the total value, and pay an additional 10 percent every six months. Customers can take a loan from any of the three banks that cooperate with the developer to pay the remaining 40-50 percent of the unit value,” said Mr. Kim Heang, CEO of Khmer Real Estate Co., Ltd.

To ensure financial stability and to gain customer trust, Mr. Kim said the developer spent six months (from June 2014 to January 2015) focusing solely on the legal process. The sales campaign wasn’t launched immediately despite receiving many client enquiries as soon as construction started.

“Only launching our sales after almost 4 months is our strategy to gain customer trust that we are the real developer,” he said, adding that, “Customers can deposit just $2,000 and they can sign and consider the contract for a week. If they don’t like it, they can dissolve the contract, and get their $2,000 back.”

While the developer is Cambodian-Taiwanese, TK Royal is being constructed by Korean constructor Bitus and monitored by a French project consultancy to ensure the highest quality. The project showroom and sales office are based at the construction site.

Thanks to its developer-based policy, Furi Realty, a 4-month old realty agency, has won the bid to become the exclusive sales agent for CA & SA condominium which is located on Diamond Island close to the La Sene project.

Developed by Taiwanese Xin Chao Chi Property Management Consulting Co.,Ltd with almost 20 years of experience in property management, the condominium contains 230 units of which 95 percent are one-bedroom units while the remainder are penthouses. While prices for condo units start from $84,000 including VAT, the price for fully furnished penthouses starts from $400,000, said Mr.Ly Senleap, Representative of Furi Realty.

With construction scheduled for completion by June 2016, 70 percent of the units have already sold, leaving only about 50 remaining units.

CA&SA’s payment policy is its major selling point. Firstly, buyers just deposit 10 percent of the total price, and after they have paid 50 percent, they can pay another 50 percent after the condo is completed. Buyers can also take a loan from Hongleong bank of up to 70 percent of the unit’s value, while clients can use the unit they buy as collateral.

“Buyers can also lease back to developer if they want with 6 percent ROI annually,” said Mr. Ly Senleap of Furi Realty. “If customers pay 100 percent of unit price, after the project completion, developer will give back 18 percent of ROI to clients back if they choose the lease back policy.”

The CA & SA showroom, opening in August, is also located nearby the project site. As construction has already reached the 8th floor, the developer will launch its second and third projects in Cambodia soon, he said.

CBRE Cambodia has won the bid to be the exclusive sales agent for the 10-storey AXIS Residence located near Phnom Penh International Airport. This area holds huge potential for a real estate boom, with schools, shopping facilities, hospitals and two large-scale projects – the Orkidee Villa and Lion City Shopping Mall – in the vicinity.

The 2-hectare project contains 566 units ranging from one three bedroom units and penthouses with more car parking spaces than the number of units. Developed by a Singapore-based company, the project construction and designs are also being done by Singaporean firms like Sunwah Project Management, AGA Architects, KCI Consultants, and iCON Engineers.

Prices per fully-furnished square metre start at $1,700.

“This project has a special environment with a nice green area, as there are not many tall buildings there,” said Ms. Ann Thida, Associate Director of CBRE Cambodia. “The Singaporean living standard-based facilities that AXIS will provide don’t exist yet in Cambodia by far.”

Established over a decade ago, the CVEA is undergoing huge reform under Mr. Sok Bun’s leadership. He is now the forth chairman and has committed to reforming the club to a higher level to stand ready for the challenges and opportunities presented by ASEAN regional integration. He has also been appointed as the chairman of the ASEAN Valuers Association (AVA) for a two-year mandate (2015-2016).

“We will host the AVA Congress in Cambodia next year to let the world know how far Cambodia’s real estate market has now come,” he told Construction and Property Magazine. “We also want to inform international investors that Cambodia has more available land for real estate or other industrial development.”

Besides sourcing potential property projects for its members to sell, CVEA is now collecting other types of properties, such as land, for its members as well. In order to expand its international networks, the group will also sign an MoU with a Hong Kong-based real estate association that has over 600 members and is chaired by famous Chinese tycoon Li Ka Shing. The association is also working with a Singaporean realty academy school to train local agents to a higher standard and upgrade the skills in the sector.