However, buying and selling has not stopped as a result of government action to bring down land prices but because the owners are holding out for even higher prices, agents say.
“The market in Thanlyin has been hot for several years but accelerated sharply early this year,” said Ko Aung Zaw Moe, an independent real estate agent.
“After the Japanese prime minister visited the area prices skyrocketed but many owners are refusing to sell because they are waiting for higher prices.”
He added that some owners are asking impossibly high prices for land.
U Khin Maung Aye, an agent with realtor Shwe Kan Myae, said land prices within the development project have doubled in one year, from about K150 million an acre to K300 million to K350 million an acre.
“Owners are asking impossible prices because they know that big businesses are going to move in and will need land,” he told The Myanmar Times.
“But they’re holding onto land because they are confident that prices will keep rising.” He added that land prices are also rising near Yangon East University in Thanlyin township.
“Prices have doubled in Thanlyin in a year,” he said. “Land with permits to built houses on are priced from K10 million to K35 million for a 2400-square-foot plot,” he said.
Ko Naing Myo Oo, an agent with Estate Myanmar, said prices downtown have also doubled.
“Thanlyin township was not a good place to own property in the past,” he said. “Previously, an acre of land beside the road could be bought for half the current price.” However, he added that owners of land registered for farming are not selling it. “They want to wait for prices to rise even further,” Ko Naing Myo Oo said.
Thilawa Special Economic zone will cover 6000 acres, about 2400 hectares, in Thanlyin and Kyauktan townships. The first phase of the project, including a deepwater port on the Yangon River, is scheduled to be build by 2015.
http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/business/property-news/7476-thanlyin-speculation-reaches-a-new-limit.html
