Demand for land likely to go up:

Gradual decrease in land transactions

Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

There has been a gradual decrease in land market transactions in the past two years. Purchasing land was considered an investment. However, with the drop in interest rates there is a likelihood that the demand for lands will go up, a spokesman for the Department of Valuation told Daily News Business.

There were less land transactions in the Colombo city compared to transactions in the outstations. Though there had been a decrease in land purchased for residential purposes in Colombo the rates were lower compared to the country’s land market, he said. “People purchase land to build houses irrespective of prices. The prices of land in Colombo are dropping whereas in the suburbs there were no major price increases. There is a drop in demand for condominium housing complexes as there are less foreign buyers”, he said.

A spokesman for ETI Property Developers Ltd said that the land market is a moving market. An improvement in the market could be seen and it is better than what it was six months ago.

“Lands in the outstations which range from Rs. 20,000-50,000 per perch have a good demand. However, blocks valued at Rs. one million move slowly,” he said.

With peace prevailing in the country, many people living abroad are returning to Sri Lanka to settle down. This will have a positive impact on the demand for land in the market. The drop in interest rates would also increase the demand for land, he said.

A spokesman for a leading property developer company said that there has been no substantial price decrease in the land market. However, there has been a drop in blocks of land sold, he said.

“There are less buyers for the lands available and there will be no significant change in the land market in the next six months. The prices for land in outstation areas are less competitive,” he said.

According to the land available the price of a perch of land in Battaramulla is Rs. 600,000, Kotte Rs 800,000, Katubedda Rs. 800,000, Mattakkuliya Rs. 600,000-650,000, Kirulapone Rs. 1.5 million and Kollupitiya Rs. 2-3 million.