Myanmar real estate news

Real estate sell-off in ‘urgent’ bid for cash


Myanmar real estate news After a sluggish year for property sales, the market has seen a mini-boom over the past few weeks as a flight-to-cash mentality takes hold ahead of the election.

Prices peaked in late 2014, rivalling the most expensive cities in the region, before deals began to dry up towards the end of last year.

Landowners, hoping prices would continue to rise, had been holding out, but some have now capitulated in an “urgent” bid for cash, said real estate agent U Hein Zan.

Most of his customers over the past few weeks have been sellers, willing to offer discounts of around 20 percent “because they want cash right away”.

“In October, our clients started to sell stand-alone houses. Not everyone has lowered their prices, but sellers that want money urgently are offering a discount,” he said.

“For example, K9 billion properties are being reduced to K6 billion.”

Real estate, US dollars and gold are the three most popular investment choices in Myanmar, in the absence of domestic capital markets.

In times of political instability across the world, investors often sell their assets and hold cash.

Real estate sources previously said that US dollars were likely to be the favoured store of value leading up to the November 8 election.

Daw Moh Moh Aung, general secretary of the Myanmar Real Estate Services Association, said some sellers who have lowered their prices are unlikely to be successful unless they cut the asking price further.

However, others have recently put their properties on the market at a more reasonable price, “to sell easily when they urgently need the money”.

A number of new advertisements for stand-alone houses has spurred rumours of a market correction, but property dealers believe the rush is temporary.

Falling prices are an illusion, said Ko Min Min Soe of Mya Pan Tha Khin real estate.

“Sale prices are not falling,” he said. “Prospective sellers had been asking unrealistic amounts in the past and had failed to strike a deal. Those who really want to sell are now cutting prices to a level that buyers are willing to pay.”

Land sales in Mandalay have also picked up since October, said local real estate agent U Tin Maung.

“Some prospective buyers had been waiting since last year to buy, but had been unsuccessful until last month, when several investors decided to switch from property to cash and sold out,” he said.

Over the longer term, prices in Myanmar’s two largest cities are likely to remain high, said U Khin Maung Aye, real estate agent for Shwe Kan Myae.

“However the country changes in the future, property prices will stay high,” he said. “The market has a great deal of potential.”



Quoted from mmtimes.