Colombo land valuation growth accelerates in 1H 2025
Daily FT: The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) said its Land Valuation Indicator (LVI) for the Colombo district rose 11.4% in the first half of 2025 from a year earlier, reaching 256.4 on a base of 2017 H1 = 100, compared with 6.9% year-on-year growth in the first half of 2024.
The index increased 8.3% from six months earlier, up from a semi-annual growth of 2.9% in 2H 2024.
The CBSL reports both annual and semi-annual growth rates to show long-term changes against the same period a year earlier, and short-term momentum compared with the previous half.
In annual terms, residential land values rose 14.4% from a year earlier, commercial land values increased 11.5%, and industrial land values rose 8.4%. In 1H 2024, annual growth rates were 8.5% for residential, 8.5% for commercial, and 3.7% for industrial.
In semi-annual terms, compared with six months earlier, residential land values increased 9.9%, commercial land values rose 8.6%, and industrial land values grew 6.3% in 1H 2025. In 2H 2024, the respective semi-annual increases were 4.1%, 2.7%, and 1.9%.
The LVI measures bare land values per perch across Colombo’s 13 Divisional Secretariat divisions. It is calculated as a simple average of three sub-indices for residential, commercial, and industrial land compiled from Government Valuation Department data, with index growth tracked annually and semi-annually.
The data indicates accelerating land valuations across Colombo, with residential driving growth and commercial close behind. The uniform improvement in six-month growth across segments points to a broad-based upswing rather than a sector-specific move.
OSL take:
The increasing business activities in Sri Lanka and the country’s path towards achieving hub status in the South Asian region, have resulted in the increase in the value of lands in many parts of the country, especially in the commercial capital, Colombo. This increase is due to the increasing economic activities in the country that have in turn expanded key economic sectors in Sri Lanka. Given the growth and business potential in Sri Lanka, foreign businesses/investors foreign businesses/investors could explore the emerging business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s house and property industry. As Sri Lanka becomes an emerging business destination in the region, especially given Sri Lanka’s strategic positioning in the Indian Ocean that has resulted in Sri Lanka being prominently featured in economic expansion plans of countries like China, foreign businesses/investors could confidently explore the increasing business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s lands sector with special focus on the house and property industry. The profits recorded by local businesses in Sri Lanka’s house and property industry would further boost confidence among foreign businesses/investors in the industry.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20250903/Z_8 |