Surge in Community Outbreak to Hurt Property Market Until Q3, Say Analysts

• 15 March 2021
• Local News
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Local property market insiders say that the recent surge in COVID-19 community transmissions in Cambodia is putting quite severe pressure on the real estate market and will continue to get even worse if the situation prolongs.

Mr Sorn Seap, founder and director of Key Real Estate, said that the market was seeing a positive trend before the 20 February incident. However, the recent local outbreak has once again disrupted the market.

“Now, people are less likely to make buying or selling transactions. Without sales, project owners also will not have enough capital to launch new projects or complete ongoing projects,” said Mr Sorn Seap.

“Given so, the market will be stagnant for a while at least until the situation gets better. Even though we have started vaccinating, the number of people receiving the vaccine is still limited, so the situation remains worrisome” he added.

CBRE Cambodia Managing Director Ann Sothida echoed Mr Sorn Seap that the market is under pressure due to the uncertainty caused by the pandemic.

“At this moment, new investors are not willing to invest and prefer to wait until things get better. Therefore, each project owner must maintain their cash flow as strong as possible to survive,” said Ms Sothida.

Nevertheless, both experts predict that the market may recover by the second half of 2021 or from the third quarter onwards.

They added that the only hope that will help restore the real estate market and the economy as a whole is vaccination.

However, experts still believe that such a situation is still an opportunity to buy real estate below market value, but buyers must have a high cash flow because the bank is less willing to provide loan given the downturn situation.

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