Property prices along Veng Sreng Boulevard are up as repairs and a road expansion project are on track to be completed in 2015, said industry insiders.

Po Eavkong, general manager of Asia Real Estate Company, reported that prices along Veng Sreng were up 10 to13 per cent this year compared to 2013.

“It increased because it has more demand in the area, especially land for residential development and industry. The road is becoming the SME [small to medium-sized enterprises] and big business road. Furthermore, preparing and enlarging the road is also helping to boost property prices,” he said.

Veng Sreng Boulevard, which is around 6.5 kilometres in length and connects Meanchey and Por Sen Chey districts, is a hub for the nation’s garment manufacturing sector in western Phnom Penh. As the boulevard is a major artery for goods destined for overseas markets, the government has invested $10 million to improve and widen the road.

The area between the Stung Meanchey intersection and the Canadia Industrial Park, which achieved notoriety this year as the site of a deadly crackdown against garment strike protesters that left at least five dead in January, is priced between $800 to $1,100 per square metre.

For land up north toward the Chom Chav roundabout on National Road 4, prices are between $600 to $1,000. Land prices along the sub roads are typically between $300 to 400 per square metre.

“It will continue to increase the transaction activity and land prices along the road after completing the construction,” added Eavkong.  

Chrek Soknim, chief executive of Century21 Vtrust, said that property transactions in the second half in 2014 along the road did not see a big change in volume compared to the first half. However, land prices saw an increase of around 13 per cent for the whole year because many property developers bought the land in the area for development.

“Land prices will see an increase of 10 or 20 per cent due to the economy and people’s income growth every year,” Soknim said.

However, Chanthorn, managing director of Town City Real Estate, said that the selling and buying of property along the road was not as high as it could have been due to the lack of vacant land available for development. The new year, however, may add energy to the market.

“The ASEAN Economic Integration in 2015, however, will boost the property transaction in the area, and land prices will increase again due to the flow of labour into Cambodia, demanding more residences,” he said.