Phnom Penh property beckons
SINGAPORE: On the weekend of April 11 and 12, CBRE will be launching a 566-unit condominium project in Phnom Penh called Axis Residences simultaneously in Singapore and Cambodia.
The project is located within a five- to 10-minute drive of the Phnom Penh International Airport and within a 20-minute drive of the CBD.
The project is also located in the vicinity of an established and affluent residential estate with luxury villas and international schools such as Nord Anglia Education’s Northbridge International School, CIA First International School and Limkokwing University.
Axis Residences contains eight 10-storey towers and has full condo facilities, including swimming pool, Jacuzzi, tennis court and playground.
Prices of the units are said to start from US$1,200 psm, with one-bedroom units starting from about US$97,000 ($131,530).
Units are a mix of one- to three-bedroom apartments.
The developer is a Singapore-based company called Spring CJW, which is collaborating with Sanwah Project Management, AGA Architects, civil and structural engineering firm KCL Consultants and mechanical & electrical engineers Icon Engineers LLP.
According to Edwin Low, general manager of Spring CJW, over 60% of the project has already been pre-booked ahead of the public launch, with most of the buyers being Asians from Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.
In Cambodia, foreigners can buy freehold property and get a clean title, says Leong Boon Hoe, managing director of CBRE Realty Associates, which is marketing the project.
Foreigners can constitute up to 70% of the unit owners in a development.
While foreigners can get mortgages, the loan-to-value limit is 50% and the interest rate is said to be in the teens.
“That is why most people prefer not to take a mortgage, but to pay by cash instead,” Leong notes.
The 566-unit Axis Residences will be launched this weekend with prices starting from US$1,200 psm
For Axis Residences, interested buyers need only pay a reservation fee of US$1,000 this weekend.
They have seven days to visit the site, after which they have to pay a 30% down payment.
After signing the sale and purchase agreement, buyers will pay progressively, depending on the stage of construction of the project.
According to Leong, there is a transfer fee for sellers in the secondary market and they will also have to pay capital gains tax.
According to CBRE Cambodia, in 2009 there were just 178 condo units in Phnom Penh.
By 2014, that figure had surged to 2,095 units.
The latest projection is that more than 9,000 condo units are in the pipeline between 2015 and 2018.
Cambodia’s urban population is expected to double by 2030, according to Bonna Realty Group, a Cambodian property valuation specialist, in a January report.
Phnom Penh has a population of 2.2 million, up from 1.9 million in 2008.
The city receives around 950,000 tourists and expatriates annually.
There are currently 12 districts in the city and owing to the remarkable increase in urbanisation and population growth, three new districts — Chbar Ampov, Prek Pnov and Chroy Changvar — were recently established, says Bonna Realty in its January 2015 newsletter.
While there isn’t a property bubble in Cambodia’s capital, CBRE’s Leong advises buyers to be discerning, as the quality of residential developments is “uneven”.
Most of the projects in Phnom Penh that are being showcased are developed by Singapore companies.
For instance, on March 24, Yuen Development Co, a privately held property developer, officially launched phase 1 of its luxury condo project La Vie Residences, located in Chroy Changvar.
One-bedroom apartments in the project start from US$112,888.
The Skyline, a 792-unit residential development in Phnom Penh's CBD, will officially be launched in mid-April
La Vie Residences is a 17-storey, 180-unit freehold condo.
The project contains a mix of one- to three-bedroom units and come with condo facilities and views of the Tonle Sap and Mekong River, according to Darren Yap, the Singaporean director and CEO of Yuen Development.
Yap was a pilot with Singapore Airlines before teaming up with several real-estate investors to set up Yuen Development.
La Vie Residences was officially launched on March 24, with prices starting from US$112,888
Meanwhile, SGPD Corporation Co Ltd unveiled The Skyline, a project located in Phnom Penh’s CBD.
The Skyline is a luxurious 39-storey mixed-use freehold development consisting of two 29-storey residential towers, a six-storey car park, a three-storey commercial building and communal facilities.
The development is said to be within a short distance from the Central Market, Sorya Shopping Center, Phnom Penh Municipal Referral Hospital, Ang Duong Hospital and schools such as the University of Health Sciences and National University of Management.
About 70% of the units at The Skyline are one-bedroom apartments of 55 sq m (592 sq ft), with the rest being a mix of two-bedroom units and penthouses.
The project has a total of 792 residential units.
It is expected to be completed in 4Q2018.
The development is expected to be officially launched in mid-April.
According to Anthill Realtors, the marketing agent, there have been 58 bookings since the start of the preview.
In early February, Teho Development, the property development arm of Singapore-listed Teho International, unveiled its mixed-use project in Phnom Penh called The Bay.
The development comprises a retail podium, luxury residences and a 250-room hotel to be managed by Japanese hotel operator Hotel Okura.
The first Singapore-listed property group to make a foray into Phnom Penh is Oxley Holdings.
Its mixed-use development, The Bridge, comprises a five-storey retail podium, two towers with 762 apartments, 963 SoHo units and 627 commercial units.
The project was launched in Singapore last year and has been seeing “steady sales”, according to property agents marketing the project.
This article appeared in the City & Country of Issue 672 (Apr 13) of The Edge Singapore.
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