While the political crisis in the country is still ongoing, Cambodia is now suffering another crisis due to flooding, which has had a big impact on the country’s real estate business.

Kim Heang, the President of Khmer Real Estate, said the buying and selling of real estate has slowed because some areas have been so flooded they have become lakes.

He said that some customers were interested in buying land they had looked at before the floods hit, but now that land had turned into a lake, so potential buyers were backing away from any purchases.

He added that the flooding has had a lot of impact on the real estate market, even causing traffic jams and making it difficult to travel around. Residents living along Preah Monivong Boulevard have also starting complaining about traffic jams and flooded roads.

“The flooding crisis is seriously affecting the real estate sector because this time no one is interested in going to see land,” he said.

Dith Channa, the General Manager of VMC Real Estate, said the sector has been suffering from the flooding crisis.

He added that while the political situation has not yet improved and with the current flooding crisis, the real estate industry has been seriously affected and it is difficult to predict when the sector will improve, especially if there is not quick end to the political problems.

Po Eav Kong, the Managing Director of Asia real Estate Cambodia Co, Ltd, said there are two major crises in Cambodia at present, and politics is the most serious one.

He said some land buyers and sellers were waiting for the floodwaters to recede and his customers who intended to buy land along National Road 6 have also put things on hold until the situation improves.

Eav Kong said: “The effect on buying and selling still continues, although a new government has already been formed, but the other political party is still protesting, which makes investors think a lot and they are not confident that things will return to normal at this stage.

“However, some investors who know the country well are still continuing to invest as they did before, but new investors are holding off.”

Kuy Vat, the President and CEO of Vtrust Group, said he could not make an assessment immediately on the effects of the flooding, but added that real investors are seizing this opportunity because at this time they can bargain the prices down.

Cheng Kheng, the Director of the CPL real estate company and president of the Cambodian Valuers and Estate Agents Association, said the flooding is a concern for Cambodia because in the past flooding had badly affected Thailand, while Cambodia was not seen as being seriously affected.

But this time the flooding is causing a detrimental effect on Cambodia and even though it has not affected the various industrial zones, the agricultural sector is being seriously affected.

“The real estate sector has been affected only slightly because Phnom Penh and various industrial zones have not been affected seriously,” he said.