Cambodia's property market is shaking off a difficult few years, and the numbers back up the change in mood. Transaction volumes across the country rose by an estimated 25% in 2025, according to market data from realestate.com.kh, while GDP growth is projected to stay above 5% through 2026.
For developers who once treated Cambodia as an afterthought, that combination is hard to ignore.
Confidence is returning, and it is returning with more sophistication than before. Buyers are more selective, developers are more disciplined, and this is exactly the kind of environment where recognition through the Cambodia Real Estate Awards carries real commercial weight.
Phnom Penh remains the engine of the country's residential sector, accounting for more than 70% of national condominium purchases. Existing supply reached roughly 64,000 units in 2025, with more than 3,300 additional units launched across 6 projects in the first quarter of 2026 alone. BKK1 continues to lead as the most sought-after district for both investors and end users.
What is changing is not the volume of supply but the quality of demand. Buyers, particularly European purchasers, are gravitating toward projects from established developers in central districts rather than speculative launches on the fringes.
That shift matters for anyone tracking the Phnom Penh property market, because it rewards exactly the track record and build quality that awards judging measures.
For foreign buyers, the rules are clear and have not changed. Under Cambodia's 2010 Foreign Ownership Law, foreigners can own strata-title condominium units directly, provided the unit sits above ground floor level. Ownership is capped at 70% of a building's private-unit area, and land itself remains constitutionally reserved for Cambodian nationals.
That clarity is an asset. Developers who understand and communicate these rules accurately give international buyers the confidence to commit, particularly when ownership rules elsewhere in the region are often far less transparent.
Infrastructure investment reinforces the pitch, with ongoing upgrades around Phnom Penh continuing to support the long-term case for the Phnom Penh property market, even as the city works through its post-2022 supply wave.
Siem Reap tells a different story to the capital. Its property market moves in step with tourism, and tourism is recovering, helped by the Siem Reap Angkor International Airport, which has expanded connectivity to the region's most famous heritage site.
Demand here concentrates on hospitality-led product: boutique hotels, serviced apartments, and centrally located condominiums with strong rental profiles near the Old Market and Pub Street area. Gross yields in the 6 to 9% range are common for well-positioned assets, reflecting the premium tourists place on proximity to Angkor Wat.
Recovery has been gradual rather than explosive, and that is arguably its strength. Developers entering Siem Reap now are building for a steadier, more experience-driven visitor than the mass-tourism boom of a decade ago, and that discipline increasingly separates a credible entry into the Cambodia Real Estate Awards from a speculative one.
Cambodia does not compete with Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City on scale, and it is not trying to. Its dollarised economy removes currency risk for international buyers, its entry prices remain well below comparable regional capitals, and its rental yields consistently outperform more mature Southeast Asian markets.
That combination attracts a specific kind of buyer: yield-focused investors, regional business owners and, increasingly, a growing base of Cambodian nationals themselves, whose participation in the condominium market is now a defining feature of demand alongside foreign purchasers.
Developers who design for this dual audience, rather than a single buyer type, are building the real advantage in this market.
Much of the data behind this shift comes from realestate.com.kh, Cambodia's leading condominium sales agency and a key partner of the Southeast Asia Real Estate Awards in the Cambodian market. The agency's own transaction volumes, more than 2,000 units sold or rented over the past two years, give it a uniquely current view of buyer behaviour.
That partnership is reflected directly in this year's programme, with dedicated Realestate.com.kh Co-Broke Agency of the Year and Co-Broke Agent of the Year categories recognising the professionals closing the deals behind Cambodia's recovery. It is a rare instance of a real estate Cambodia 2026 narrative built on transaction data rather than sentiment alone.
Recognising the developers shaping Cambodia's future
Cambodia is often overlooked in regional real estate conversations, but that is changing. As Adam Sutcliffe, Group Head of Events, Southeast Asia Real Estate Awards, puts it:
"Cambodia is often overlooked in regional real estate conversations — but the developers and projects we are seeing enter our awards programme tell a very different story. There is real quality emerging here."
The Cambodia Real Estate Awards 2026, first established in 2018, returns this October as part of the wider Southeast Asia Real Estate Awards platform. Categories span developer, development and agency recognition, from Condominium Developer of the Year and Borey Developer of the Year through to the realestate.com.kh co-broke categories covering the country's agency sector.
Entries are judged against the same criteria used across the group's other markets: build quality, value for money, sales performance and developer track record for projects, alongside reputation, innovation and major achievements for organisations.
For developers and agents building a presence in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap or beyond, entering the Cambodia Real Estate Awards is a direct route to recognition alongside the country's most credible operators, at exactly the moment the market is proving its recovery is real.
Cambodia's recovery is real, and the data behind the Phnom Penh property market backs that up. For developers, agents and investors ready to be recognised alongside the country's leading names, this year's programme is the clearest route to that recognition.