Understanding The Market For Apartments For Sale And How To Decide On The Type Of Property You Would Want To Own In Colombo
With the growth of the economy in Sri Lanka, there has been an increased focus on the real estate market within the island as well. Due to the higher concentration of development occurring closer to the capital city Colombo, it has also increased the demand for property either for purchase or rent in the vicinity. But such rapid developments and increased demand has also led to a scarcity of free land available. Since the need to buy home properties has to be provided with a solution, many leading apartment builders have begun several projects to provide potential homeowners with viable solutions to choose from. This sort of developments is supported by statistics that indicate that the entire Western province covers only 6% of the country’s land areas but close to 28% of the population seek to make their homes in the area.
Since this trend has been on the rise during the past few years, now you can find many apartments for sale and also apartments for short term rent that can be chosen according to your requirements. There are also several good houses for sale available in nearby areas but due to the high prices, they are not suitable for many interested homebuyers. In terms of apartments there are broadly two categories, namely, luxury apartment projects and micro apartments available for consideration.
In previous times, real estate agents and property developers focused more on offering stand-alone houses for sale. But now, with the limitations highlighted above, these developers have looked to offer those who want to buy home units the option of choosing from luxury apartments. It has been found that the demand to buy apartment that fall into the luxury category comes from the Sri Lankan community as well as foreigners. Such investments made in relation to own properties in Colombo area have also shown high increase in popularity. As per the statistics gathered up until 2015, there have been close to over 2600 luxury apartment units and it is further estimated that this number could reach close to 6000 units by 2019. Such luxury units are also found to be available for those who wish to rent an apartment, giving rise to more and more apartments for short term rent being offered.
Another alternative to houses for sale is the availability of real estate in the form of micro apartments. Many apartment builders have also invested in such projects that have been in high demand among those who want to buy apartment space in Colombo. The target market for this type of property has actually found appeal among the affluent customers who might even want a luxury apartment as well as middle-income individuals who want to invest in such a home for them. Similar to the above category, this type of housing solutions are also available as apartments for short term rent for those who are unable to buy home units by making an outright purchase and therefore look to rent an apartment instead. This opens up the possibility for more home seekers to get closer to their dream of owning a home in a prime city location.
When you consider purchasing such properties you should be prepared for making the investment. The main decision you would need to make would be in relation to whether you actually want to buy apartment space or you still would like to look out to buy home in the form of a separate house. As a primary consideration when you invest in real estate you would need to decide on the space or size of home. Normally houses in Sri Lanka tend to cover about 2700 sq ft while an apartment would generally fall in the range of 1000 to 1500 sq ft. In addition apartments tend to offer additional services such as security, cleaning, waste disposal and other recreational facilities that are normally not available with separate housing units. But on the other hand, you might want to consider the following that are normally not available with apartments.
Due to the various requirements of homeowners there are several other options made available in terms of being able to rent an apartment. Many individuals who would be looking at living in small living spaces for short periods of time can consider finding apartments for short term rent. Since there is a high portion of the population that need to find accommodation to travel to work and for other arrangements in the city limits, this has become more of a financially viable option many prefer. Depending on the requirement you could even arrange to extend the rental period once agreed with the renter. This is also a great way to check whether you can adjust to an apartment style living. If the lifestyle appeals to you, with time, you could also consider owning an apartment of your own.
To cater to much of the demand to wanting to buy apartment properties, there have been several investors and developers who have taken interest in developing projects which are in demand for this market. Among these companies there are several reputed apartment builders operating in the island that have produced several leading apartment projects and have several others lined up as future projects.
Article By Greg Stefaniak