Price of Yangon Real Estate Hurts Locals

• 31 December 2015
• Property Focus
• 2116 Views

Yangon’s booming economy and rapid pace of development is powering a huge 20% annual growth in the housing rental market.

A Myanmar Business Today census has revealed about 24.5 percent of Yangon residents live in leased houses or apartments, while the iMyanmarhouse property portal reports only 10 percent of Yangon residents are home owners.

According to Myanmar Real Estate Services Association (MRESA) data, rent for a standard one-bedroom apartment in downtown Yangon starts from around $300. Rent rates for condominium units in the mid-high range are roughly $2,000 to $3,000. Average local jobs pay only between $120 and $150 per month.

Prices in Yangon have risen so much that many can no longer afford house rents, and many households now jointly live on leased property.

Demand for housing demand in Yangon is high – rising to around 30,000 units in 2015 but government figures show only 7,000 homes were built in 2013. In March 2014, the Department of Human Settlement and Housing Development announced that it was planning to build 30,000 new low-cost homes in townships outside Yangon in 2015-16.