‘Lanka’s real estate sector on upward trend’ | Daily News

‘Lanka’s real estate sector on upward trend’

Steven Mayes and Sunil Subramanian at the  launch of the Report. Picture by Thushara Fernando
Steven Mayes and Sunil Subramanian at the launch of the Report. Picture by Thushara Fernando

Sri Lanka’s real estate sector is now on an upward trend and currently over 3,700 luxury apartment rooms are being built and would be completed within next two years. Over 700 were opened during the last one and half years, said Sunil Subramanian, Director, JLL Lanka (Pvt) Ltd.

Real estate is set to play major role in Sri Lankan’s growth and a double-digit growth in the domestic real estate sector over the medium term is expected, he said.

Speaking while launching JLL’s annual Sri Lanka real estate report titled ‘Sri Lanka – Land of Real Estate Opportunities’, he said that they observe an increased demand for residential property from wealthy and middle classes.

Colombo city’s office market comprises nearly 1 million square feet of Grade A stock at 95% occupancy and we see that more quality office spaces are needed,” he said.

The One Belt One Road initiative launched by China and the fact that Sri Lanka is one of the central points of that would see more Chinese buying properties in Colombo while there is also keen interest among Indians to buy property in Sri Lanka.

The proposed Port City Project and the Financial Centre along with the Megapolis Project and rapid development of infrastructure too are major plus points to market Sri Lanka as a preferred destinations for investments for apartments.

“We believe that the overall outlook for the Sri Lankan real estate sector is strong and we expect this growth to be driven by the surging demand for residential and retail spaces over the coming years,” he said.

“However there are challenges that need to be addressed, of course. Sri Lanka is prone to limited but notable downside risks, largely arising out of the currently subdued levels of foreign direct investment and a high fiscal deficit. High electricity tariffs, traffic, lack of quality labour, and escalating construction costs are major concerns.”

Steven Mayes, Managing Director, JLL Lanka (Pvt) Ltd., said that Sri Lanka is also making a name as a preferred tourist destination.

“However Sri Lanka must attract high-end travellers and this is not happening now.”

“Up to now over 95% of buyers are from Sri Lanka and 65% of are Sri Lankan expatriates.”

“This marks a significant milestone for the domestic market, which we believe holds the potential to become one of the South Asian region’s most promising success stories. Government should further relax land ownership laws for foreigners enticing them to buy apartments in Sri Lanka. ”

He also said that the standards of construction in Sri Lanka are high and is in par with the rest of the world.

The report further notes that Sri Lanka continues to outperform neighboring markets in terms of the ease of approvals required to obtain building permits and register real estate projects.

This is indicative of an ongoing concerted effort towards improving the country’s platform to begin truly competing on the international stage.

Notably, the report features Sri Lanka’s debut onto the JLL Global Real Estate Transparency Index at a rank of 69 out of 109 international markets. 

 

 

 


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