Yangon property market braces for soaring house prices, apartment rent

House prices and rents significantly climbed in the Yangon real estate market, the realtors from Lanmadaw Township said.
The rent for an apartment unit this year is up by K50,000 compared to that of the corresponding period last year, Ma Win Hla, who stays at the rented apartment in Lanmadaw Township, told the Global New Light of Myanmar (GNLM). Similarly, the sales prices also tremendously rose. The prices of the apartments on the top floor jumped to K45 million per unit in 2023 which surged from around K35 million per unit in 2022.
Some apartments on the fifth floor with room dividers are sold at K70 million per unit. The apartments on the fourth floor in some lanes are also priced at K70 million per unit in early 2023. Then, the prices jumped to K80 million per unit in mid-2023.
The real estate rental market is at a slower pace during the three-month Buddhist Lent in which Myanmar people traditionally cannot move house, Ko Aung, a realtor from Thingangyun Township told the GNLM.
A realtor charges two per cent of the sales price from the apartment seller. The owner of the land also receives one to two per cent from the seller. This being so, the seller calculated the gross profit and decided the asset value, Daw Tint Lwin, an owner of an apartment on the top floor in South Okkalapa who puts this on sale, shared her opinion with the GNLM.
Additionally, the owners of the apartments have to give a commission to brokers for rent which is calculated depending on the contract term (three months, one year). At present, the owners of the apartments take reliable documents from tenants to comply with the existing rules and laws before the lease. Some apartments on the ground floor have been closed for years in Lanmadaw Township without a lease.
The rent for a 12.5-foot apartment on the first floor was only K300,000 in 2022. The rent increased to K350,000 per unit in 2023. The apartment property market is not as bustling as gold and automobile markets.
Yangon-Dala bridge and Lanthit Yeiktha construction works in Lanmadaw Township are nearly finished. Thus, the owners of the apartments are closely observing the market as they might positively affect the real estate market in Lanmadaw Township. — TWA/EM