Cambodia Property: Foreign Ownership May Be Close

The Xinhua News agency has reported that foreigners will soon be able to own Cambodia property. Apparently the Cambodian Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction is currently drafting the legal framework to make foreign ownership a reality in Cambodia soon, said the Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith.

I will believe it when I see it. I have reported several times in the last two years that government legislation was close; to allow foreigners to buy Cambodia property, but it never came. I feel like the boy who cried wolf, hence the tone of this article.

However, I do remember that in an interview I did with the Phnom Penh Post in the middle of last year, I said that Cambodian prices were due to level out because of the rapid level of growth, and that may force the government to reluctantly bring out legislation to allow foreigners to purchase property. So maybe the slump in activity has given them the necessary nudge.

Kanharith said that the new legislation will allow foreigners to own apartments and condos but not land.