Annual average increase of 14% seen for Western Province Lands in the last 5 years

The property value in the Western province has shown an increase of 14 per cent in the last five years,  but prices in Colombo 3 to 7 has recorded the slowest percentage increase of prices during the period,  a latest survey has revealed
 
According to the 2022 Land Price Index developed by LankaPropertyWeb (LPW), from 2018 to 2022 the land prices in Western Province of Sri Lanka  the Ingiriya area in the Kalutara district recorded the highest percentage increase of 482% over the past 5 years. 
 
The Land Price Index data also revealed that while these land prices have been consistently increasing during the past 5 years, though the percentage increase has slowed down in recent years. 
The rate of land prices have increased in Colombo 9, 13, and 15 have risen by 113%, 87% and 47% respectively over the last 5 years.

The survey said this is is mainly due to the construction of mixed development projects and Port City Colombo, that are expected to drive prices further in the future. The total per perch price changes during the same 5-year period, further show that there is an inverse relationship between these prices and the increasing rate of price. In other words, higher the price of land, the rate of increase in prices is lower, the survey said. 
 
There is a higher demand for land for sale in the Western Province that is below Rs half a million per perch which drove prices up by 10% while lands over Rs.10M recorded a 10% reduction. This goes to show that as per perch prices increase, the affordability for people reduces, thus resulting in longer selling time gateways for higher-end properties. 

A comparison between Q1 of 2021 and Q1 of 2022 shows that land searches in the top 10 searched cities in Sri Lanka have reduced significantly.
 
Land for sale in Piliyandala recorded a 43% search reduction followed by Dehiwala, where the second highest search drop was seen. This can be attributed mainly to the rising construction costs and raw material shortages resulting in people preferring to buy ready-made constructed houses and apartments for sale. 

The House Price Index of LankaPropertyWeb shows evidence of a spike in apartment prices by 45%, and house prices by 22% were seen in Q2 of 2022. However, though land prices in many parts of the Western Province have increased, there are still lands available for sale with starting prices as low as Rs 100,000 per perch.

In areas like Homagama. First-time homebuyers can also find similar lands for sale in Malabe, Boralesgamuwa, Athurugiriya, Kottawa, and Piliyandala. Lands in towns that are in close vicinity to the Galle road have also seen high price fluctuations over the past few years. 
 
Land prices in Galle increased by 126% from 2018 to 2022, followed by Wadduwa that increased by 125%, and Kalutara that increased by 87% during the same period.
 
(For full article with charts and graphics see the article section on this page)