Doctors, engineers amongst top investors in apartments

Demand for apartments in the country is coming mostly from local engineers and doctors, experts say.

Havelock City Senior Manager for Marketing and Sales, Shanesh Ratnaweerage told the Business Times that it’s always the high networth individuals who purchase apartments.

“Majority of the investors are doctors and engineers as far as the Havelock City complex is concerned. But there are other segments who buy apartments too such as corporates who own businesses, entrepreneurs and those working abroad earning a good income.” They all have bought apartments at the Havelock City, he says adding that some have purchased condos for their retired parents and families. Mr. Ratnaweerage said that most apartments and high end properties around the country are purchased and owned by many local corporates.

“In the next four to five years with the Western Province Megapolis Development and many other massive projects coming into play, the real estate industry will do much better than it is doing right now,” he noted.

Mr. Ratnaweerage also stressed that people are looking at convenience today. “There were the days where people used to build their own houses. Now they are looking at convenience and moving to pur- chasing apartments and living in compact spaces as maintenance has become easier.”

Today people are more ‘construction savvy’ which makes them question how strong the structure is and many other such queries before they purchase an apartment.“We have to be aware of what is being used by foreign countries in the construction industry and maintain international standards,” Mr. Ratnaweerage said. Sri Lanka is stressing on better construction standards, he noted.

Amidst all this, he says that competition among apartment complexes is high. Price of an apartment plays a huge role in comparing luxury high end apartment complexes. “Havelock City has been in the market and people can witness the product when they want to invest in an apartment. If you don’t show what you have promised, it will have a negative impact,” said Mr. Ratnaweerage.

He also stated that Havelock City being a mixed development project has completed four towers at the moment with another four in the pipeline. The complex is built on an 18 acre land with a large garden. The eight towers will be completed by 2019 while the office space which is the commercial space will be completed by 2020, he added. (RM)