Realestate.com.kh on BTV

Don't miss Realestate.com.kh on BTV Cambodia Real Estate and News Talk Show. Mr. Siv Meng, presenter at BTV Cambodia Real Estate and News Talk Show, talked with Realestate.com.kh director, Mr Tom O’Sullivan, about his inspirations for starting Realestate.com.kh, and his forecasts for the Cambodian real estate market. How long have you been in Cambodia? I have been in Cambodia now for 3 years. First I lived in Battambang and needed to find a place to stay. I remember finding it very difficult to find an apartment to rent online, and it was clear to me that there was an opportunity to create a real estate portal. Cambodia needed a website where you can find all property listings for sale and rent across Cambodia in one place, and you can contact any number of real estate agents from the same website. I was tired of looking on individual agency websites, where information was not clear or up to date. A real estate portal brings home buyers and renters convenience! When you look for properties online first, you don’t need to travel around town looking at properties that may or may not fit your criteria.

Our company originally planned to launch the website alone, but then we met Bong Chenda Moek, the founder of Realestate.com.kh. He started the website in 2009 and was already doing great job with the website, and creating a lot of sales inquiries - but ultimately he was under resourced. We had technological skills to help him, and access to resources - and he had local knowledge that we desperately needed. We want Realestate.com.kh to suit Cambodians, and this is always been our goal. Understand what the market wants and needs, and bring that to our customers! How does the Cambodian market compare to other ASEAN markets? Regionally, Cambodia is on the front foot for foreign ownership laws and creating attractive conditions for FDI. Regional neighbours such as Vietnam and Thailand are much slower to accept foreign influence, and this means Cambodia remains ahead of the pack in terms of FDI. This is helping Cambodia catch up to these larger markets. Is there an oversupply of condos, approaching 2017-2018? I understand this is becoming the hot question for the Cambodian real estate market, as is worrying some investors and developers. But condos still appear to be selling, and meanwhile the market of potential buyers, both foreign and international, is expanding quickly. There is nothing to say that demand won’t continue to grow, even if supply exceeds expectations in the short term. Of course, it is no secret that chinese investment in coming thick and fast to Cambodia, and this trend seems set to continue. Having spoken to many property developers recently, and learning from their observations - it is clear that the increase in Chinese property investment in condos continues to be a growing force. As the Chinese market sees fluctuations, Cambodia is increasingly becoming an investor’s haven, buoyed by the USD. Furthermore, with increasing congestion in the city of Phnom Penh, it seems likely that we will see an increase in condo buying from the younger generation of Khmers over the longer term. Lifestyles are changing and this will influence demand in the future. Want to see more great real estate news interviews? Check out the Realestate.com.kh youtube channel and subscribe today!