Are Chinese buyers creating a Cambodian luxury property bubble?
Capital city Phnom Penh expected to have about 30,000 condo units by 2020, but property consultants already say they are seeing oversupply in the market
Guo Qirui, 30, says it’s a lonely journey when he goes home to his rented luxury condominium in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, the country where the Chinese retail executive has lived for nearly half a decade.
Guo now lives on Diamond Island, also known as Koh Pich, a neighbourhood in the city where five condominium projects are underway or have been built. Most the homes, sales agents and residents say, are sold to absent Chinese landlords.
“Probably half of the completed units have been handed over but every night it’s all dark. Not one light is switched on,” Guo told Reuters.
A boom in high-end real estate investment by Chinese buyers in Phnom Penh has stoked concerns that they are pumping up a market already unaffordable for most Cambodians. The surge echoes fast growth seen in China’s own metropolitan hubs.