With industrial complexes popping up in proximity to National Road 1, real estate commentators are witnessing a trend of higher demand and increasing prices for plots of land along the major road.

Chrek Soknim, CEO of Century 21 Mekong, told Post Property this week that, broadly speaking, prices for plots of land along National Road 1 were swelling.

“A lot of investors who have purchased plots aim to construct boreys and factories,” he said.

National Road 1 is located to the south of the ASEAN region, connecting Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Soknim said prices vary widely according to the specific location of the land in relation to the road, with prices from Monivong Bridge to Borey Peng Hout ranging from $850 to $1,500 per square metre, up from $600-$1,000 per square metre three years ago.

“These land plots will continue to gain momentum in the future as National Road 1 is the link between Southeast Asia and China’s One Belt, One Road,” he added.

Seng Sopheak, general manager at CPL Cambodia Properties, said that while land prices had been steadily rising along National Road 1 in recent years, he believes that investment will be hampered if prices skyrocketed too high adding that he hoped demand would steady.

However, Ear Sovannara, a resident in the capital’s Chbar Ampov district, said he had witnessed bulk land buying lately along areas nearby National Road 1.

“For instance, a few years ago, the price of my land in the Veal Sbov commune was only $50 to $70 per square metre at one point but it’s in the range of $250 to $300 now,” he said.