Land price movement at its flattest in many years: RIUNIT

Monday, 29 January 2024 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Research Intelligence Unit says that during the firm’s extensive 21 years of tracking land prices in Sri Lanka, the current period stands out as the flattest so far. In the aftermath of the economic crisis, it noted that the anticipated rebound in land prices has proven to be a more sluggish than first expected.

The research firm that specialises in the Sri Lankan real estate market says that the average land prices in Colombo city, denominated in LKR, experienced a marginal increase from Rs. 14.024 million per perch in November to Rs. 14.038 million per perch in December. Similarly, when assessed in USD terms, the prices rose from $ 42,725 per perch in November to $ 42,965 per perch in December.

Its monthly real estate market surveillance update flagged Colombo 5 as having the highest growth rate of average land price per perch within the Colombo city land market. It has increased nearly by 3% (Y-o-Y) during the time period from December 2022 – December 2023.

In the suburban areas of Colombo, the trend continued with average land prices in LKR terms rising from Rs. 2.474 million per perch in November to Rs. 2.486 million per perch in December 2023. In USD terms, this equated to an increase from $ 7,538 per perch to $ 7,611 per perch over the same period. RIUNIT ongoing research captured Rajagiriya as having the highest growth rate of average land price per perch in the Colombo suburban land market. It has increased nearly by 6% (Y-o-Y) during the time period from December 2022 – December 2023.

Whilst the land market is still on a positive incline, the rate of increase is extremely sluggish at present. Moreover, we at RIUNIT have witnessed high growth rates even during the civil conflict before 2009. However, we do expect the market to pick up toward the latter part of 2024.

The Research Intelligence Unit (RIUNIT), is the first agency to start collecting land price data in Sri Lanka and other Asian countries since 2003. Its market data and intelligence has formed the basis of RIUNIT’s Real Estate Research Division’s advisory work which has facilitated the development of more than 70% of Colombo’s large residential, commercial, retail and mixed developments by both local and foreign developers and investors.