That’s the question many people have asked or is on their minds, when they find out about Skyview Estate. Of course, as a home buyer this is a valid question and you have every right to know the reason/s why. There are several truly unique Papua New Guinean factors that have caused the upsurge in prices across the market. Houses in Port Moresby are higher compared to prices in other parts of the country. For the purpose of this article, we will discuss some of the reasons why houses at Skyview Estate may be slightly higher compared to other places.
1. Cost of titled land
As per the stats, about 97% or so of land in Papua New Guinea is traditionally owned land and only about 3% of that is titled State land. Thus, titled land is scarce or hard to come by and according to the ‘demand and supply’ rule, this scarcity pushes up the price of titled land. Now add that inflated price of land to the cost of building a house and there you have it. This is why the prices of houses are so high! It’s the low supply of titled land that is pushing up prices so high.
Source: www.lands.gov.pg
2. Constructed houses vs. Prefab
There are many advantages of both constructed houses (houses that are built from scratch) and prefabricated houses (kit houses). Houses at Skyview are constructed houses and are built with concrete and steel and the cost of building with these materials are higher compared to prefabricated houses. The advantages with building constructed houses with concrete and steel are that these materials are durable and over the long term, houses built with these materials require less maintenance and upkeep. If you’ve purchased your home through a home loan, factors like the durability of the materials used in building your house are important. Look at this way, you’d like to know that at the end of you completing the payment of your loan, whether it’s 15, 30 or 40 years from now, that your house will still be in good shape.
3. High Cost of Building Materials
Another factor that adds to our houses being more ‘expensive’ is the high cost of building materials within the country. As much as possible, the building materials used for construction such as gravel, sand, steel, piping, etc… are sourced within PNG; but due to the high cost of these building materials this also has a final say in how much the end product will cost. With the current economic situation too over the past couple of years, suppliers have had to put up their prices to deal with the rising costs of their operational costs. Of course, these increased prices are passed on to GDL and then passed onto the final cost of houses.
4. Amenities, Connected Utilities & Location
Developments or other additions can lift up the price of houses. For example, houses and apartment complexes around the Port Moresby CBD area will sell for 50%+ more compared to a house for sale around the Waigani area. As the city of Port Moresby explodes at the seam, the city’s development is gradually moving into other places such as the 7 Mile – 8 Mile area. This as well, makes 7 Mile and 8 Mile areas as desirable to live at.
Other developments as well such as connection to essential utilities such as water, power, sewerage also add to the overall value of houses at Skyview Estate. Other developments such as concrete sealed roads, as well as carports and drainage system all add to the overall value of properties on sale at the estate.
Source: www.pngpower.com.pg
Important point –
At the end of the day, it is up to your personal preference what type of house you’d like to get. Over the past couple of years, the number of housing estates have grown that can cater to different preferences and budgets. The choice is up to you, as the home buyer.
Published 24 August 2018