Prices of real estate & property have plunged to lowest levels in certain areas in Colombo district where Tamils have traditionally resided...!!!

Real estate prices tumble in
Tamil areas

By Azhar Razak

Prices of real estate and property have plunged to lowest levels in certain areas in Colombo district where Tamils have traditionally resided before the end of the war, area residents and property agents say.
Prices of properties, especially in areas such as Wellawatte and Kotahena are dropping fast as residents are resettling back into their homeland in the North, sources said.
“Although monthly rentals for houses have not dropped drastically since the end of the war, prices of real estate have certainly crashed,” a leading property agent in the area who wished to remain anonymous told The Bottom Line.
He said that real estate/land prices have crashed as much as 75 % of what the prices were during the war.
“When the war was on, getting a perch of land in a prime land in Wellawatte used to cost as much as 3.5 million, while prices have slid so fast as people are now finding it difficult to sell the same land at even 2 million per perch,” the agent said.
Out of a total of approximately 130 ‘house for rent’ classifieds run in a recent Tamil daily newspaper, it was surprising to note that almost half the advertisements were to seek tenants in Wellawatte and Kotahena areas alone signifying a clear drop of residents in the area. Earlier, increasing land prices and demand for houses had been pushing developers to launch taller building projects and even larger suburban housing projects.
Sky rise apartment complexes and housing schemes had provided housing for some while establishing a risk free high profit market for others.
“Most of the apartments built in these areas are now facing problems as tenants are gradually moving out. However, this could also mean that prices are stabilising to actual market levels without getting too artificially inflated,” another agent retorted.
Meanwhile, Chamber of Construction Industry Chief Executive Officer, Dhakshitha Thalgodapitiya told the Bottom Line that the property market is presently facing a crisis as a result of the global economic recession.
“What I see is that the industry in general is not performing well and has been badly hampered by the financial crisis,” Thalgodapitiya said.

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