Land sales booming now

Harshini Perera

The land sale industry is booming as commercial banks have reduced interest rates. Many are now interested in buying lands as an investment. The average land prices in Colombo city limit are Rs 2.5 million per perch and they are mostly used for commercial purposes.

Within Colombo district but outside the metropolitan city limits the land prices are averaging at around Rs one million a perch, an official from property development company told the Daily News Business.

He said that there is a demand for land in the Southern areas while in the rural areas land rates are averaging from Rs 100,000 a perch.

Since there are many development projects coming up in those areas, people are moving to the Southern areas, he said.

“There has been an issue with land sales in the Jaffna district since the Government did not clear them yet.

With the infrastructure development that is taking place, the land requirement in Jaffna will also be in demand,” he said.

“Most of the people invest in land for agricultural purposes outside main cities.

Lands in the coastal areas are being sold at higher prices for recreational purposes such as hotels and restaurants,” he said.

The investments that are coming to the country has also led to an increase in land prices while an increase of 10 to 20 percent can be expected for the next six months, he said. “It is expected that the drop in the banking interest rates will give a boost to the real estate industry. The lands that are utilised in the urban and suburbs areas are mainly for housing purposes,” another industry source said.

He said the real estate prices should improve in Jaffna since there is a demand as people are moving back to their previous places and many hotels and infrastructure projects are coming up in those areas.