Written by Soeun Say
The Phnom Penh Post
Businesses feeling crunch as fewer land sales mean fewer new rich with
money to burn
THE end of Cambodia's property boom is increasingly being being felt
across the economy as a downturn in land sales means fewer newly-rich
Cambodians hit the capital with money to spend.
Sam An, 43, who runs a private automobile dealership on Phnom Penh's
Monivong Boulevard, said his sales have declined by up to 50 percent
over the last six months from a peak during the building boom of 2006,
2007 and the early part of 2008.
"Many of our buyers made a lot of money from selling land and came to
buy cars here," he said. "Now they are so quiet."
Sok Narin, 28, said he used to make a handsome profit from selling
Suzuki motorbikes from his private dealership in 7 Makara district to
people arriving from the provinces with cash in hand.
"At this time last year I sold between four and five motorbikes per day,
but now my business is very quiet," he said. "I think that this is
because the property market is not good."
Cambodia's sole Toyota distributor, TTHK Co Ltd, told the Post last
month that it has sold only 1,200 vehicles this year, well short of the
2,000 previously anticipated, after sales plummeted almost 50 percent
since May.
RM Asia Co Ltd, the country's second-largest automobile importer, said
sales of Ford vehicles have declined about 10 percent within the last
few months.
Va Teang, 35, who owns a gold shop at Pochentong Market in Phnom Penh,
said her income has dropped 50 percent because of the real estate market
slowdown.
Mel Trea, 72, a farmer-turned-land speculator from Prakar village in the
outskirts of Phnom Penh, said the land boom had made him rich over the
past five years.
"I never thought that I would have a great chance like this," he said.
"I earned a lot of money from land I sold during 2006 and 2007 when the
land was fetching very high prices. If I had bought land for $1,000 per
hectare I sold it at $10,000 per hectare; if I bought at $10,000 I sold
at $100,000."
With the proceeds, he built a villa for his family and bought cars and
motorcycles. With few buyers around, his wealth is locked up in his
remaining land bank and his spending money has dried up.
"Now, the property market is very quiet," he said. "It's not like the
last few years when I was very busy speculating."
Kang Chandararot, president of the Cambodia Institute of Development
Study, said it was inevitable that the slowdown in real estate sales
would be felt throughout the economy.
"The world economic crisis has already affected the real estate market
in Cambodia," he said. "If the real estate market collapses, it can make
life difficult for other people doing businesses in Cambodia, especially
car and motorbike sellers."
Ngy Tayi, undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Finance
said the government was considering how it could intervene to boost the
sector.
"I can't give you an answer as to what we will do, but I can say the
government is discussing the issue and considering helping them in the
near future," he said.
