Land and properties in the Ang Snoul district, southwest of Phnom Penh, are currently enjoying a spike in land value in line with construction progress of a new bridge and road, drawing the interest of local investors.

Mao Lee, chief of the Makak commune in the Ang Snoul district, said the new bridge being constructed would provide a short cut to drivers wanting to travel to Phnom Penh and also play an important part in easing the commute from National Road 4 to National Road 3 and onwards to National Road 2.

“This new bridge began construction in 2016 and is planned to finish by 2018,” he said.

Moreover, Lee said the bridge can also ease the transportation from National Road 4 to Takhmao city. A new road branching out from National Road 4 near the Bek Chan Market would also assist in easing traffic congestion, Lee said.

The construction activity is buoying land prices in surrounding areas, according to Vann Nat, chief of a village in the Makak commune who added that a lot of people had been selling plotted lands as a result of high buyer demand.

“As for the rice fields in the area, they have also been bought by merchants, and have since been filled, and are ready to be dissected and sold,” he said, adding that the land plots sell between $40 and $60 per square metre.

Sok Ni, a local businessman in the Makak commune, whose family just decided to divide and sell their own lands, said they had been receiving a lot of buyer interest.

“Almost all of the 11 plots have been successfully sold out, with three remaining plots left that we are currently in talks over. Each costs $7,500 and upwards.”

Ni continued: “The lands in Ang Snoul district, located in the southern part of National Road 4, keeps increasing in value due to the many development projects in the area that include factories, constructions, warehouses, and the government’s road infrastructure developments that are rapidly improving the area.”

Van Chanthorn, head of Town City Real Estate, said many land owners in the Makak commune were currently being able to sell their land for prices above market value.

“Normally, places teeming with development of bridges and big roads like these will propel the real estate value in such places to surge upwards by 20 percent,” Chanthorn said.

“However, after this stage, when investors have successfully shoved the money they got from selling the properties they have bought in their pockets – or the period after that, when the subsequent sellers have to wait for a new batch of potential buyers; this is where things can become challenging, because there are no new residents or the area becomes sluggish in business activity.”