What Can You Buy in Cambodia for $50,000–300,000 in 2026?

This is a market guide, not legal, tax or investment advice. Every price below is an asking-price range from agencies or data portals unless we say otherwise, and we have no listings in these places.

Cambodia is one of the few Asian markets where a foreigner can own an apartment outright, but only as a strata-titled condominium unit and only within a quota. Land is out of reach. The market is also weak: the central bank's residential price index for Phnom Penh was reported down 4.52% year on year in January 2026 (via Global Property Guide), and Knight Frank was reported to put the sales rate of the projects it monitors at about 3-4%, which it called the lowest in decades and linked partly to border tension with Thailand (via Global Property Guide; we did not see the original report). A weak market helps a buyer who can negotiate and hurts one who counts on a quick exit.

Quick answer

$50,000-300,000 buys a condominium unit, nothing else. Asking prices per m2 we found (2025 to early 2026):

• Phnom Penh, average: about $1,800 per m2 (Tranio, 2026 analysis, secondary source). Entry-level condos $1,500-2,200 (IPS Cambodia, 2025). High-end projects above $2,800, up about 5% year on year in Q4 2025 (CBRE, via a search summary).
• Siem Reap: $1,900-2,800 per m2 (IPS Cambodia, 2025 note).
• Sihanoukville: $1,400-2,500 for high-quality projects and $1,000-1,400 for mid-range central units (IPS Cambodia, 2025 note), with the same note describing an oversupply after the recent building boom.

The range is generous in Phnom Penh, where $50,000 still buys a small unit, and thin in Siem Reap, where the quoted prices sit above the capital's entry level. Sizes below are our own estimate (price per m2 times size), so treat them as screening numbers.

Tier 1: $50,000-80,000

A studio or compact one-bedroom, roughly 28-60 m2 at $1,300-1,800 per m2 (our own estimate). Realistically this means secondary or outer Phnom Penh projects, or a mid-range Sihanoukville unit at the $1,000-1,400 level. The trade-offs are distance from the centre, older or lower-grade finishing, and above all the quality of the developer and the building's management. In Sihanoukville the same note that gives the cheap prices also reports oversupply, so a low price is not yet a bargain.

Tier 2: $80,000-140,000

A one- or two-bedroom of about 40-90 m2 at $1,500-2,200 (our own estimate). Phnom Penh gives the widest choice, including entry-level condos in established districts, and Sihanoukville mid-range units sit at the low end. Siem Reap starts to appear here, but at $1,900 and up per m2 a $100,000 unit is small. This is the first tier where you can compare a finished resale unit with a newer one and avoid the weakest buildings.

Tier 3: $140,000-220,000

A larger or better-located unit of about 50-120 m2 at $1,800-2,800 (our own estimate), in central Phnom Penh or a higher-grade project, or a good Siem Reap unit. Extra money buys a view, a newer tower or a second bedroom.

Tier 4: $220,000-300,000

A premium unit of about 73-136 m2 at $2,200-3,000 (our own estimate) in high-end Phnom Penh, where CBRE's figure of above $2,800 per m2 for the segment applies, or a resort-grade project. The other route is two smaller units, which doubles the management work and the exit problem.

Four buyers, four decisions

• Entry buyer: pick the building before the unit. At $60,000, check the foreign quota and the title status of the building (see the checklist) before anything else; a cheap unit in a building at its foreign limit cannot be resold to another foreigner.
• Balanced buyer, $110,000: compare a completed resale unit with an off-plan unit at the same price. The resale unit has a visible building and real service charges; the off-plan unit has a developer promise in a market where sales are slow.
• Lifestyle buyer, $180,000: choose by walkability and the daily route, not the view. The easy-to-miss point is that the price per m2 you pay is net or gross depending on the contract: ask whether the area is the private unit area or includes shared space.
• Upper-range buyer, $260,000: do not rely on a projected yield. Ask for the building's real occupancy and the rents of actual leases, not the brochure.

Cost of acquisition for a foreign buyer

• Transfer tax: 4% of the official value, which a cadastral official sets and which is not necessarily the sale price (IPS Cambodia and other guides). One guide reports a first-time-buyer exemption for residential property up to $210,000 that ran until 31 December 2025; we did not find whether it was extended into 2026, so ask.
• Registration: guides say the developer pays for converting the master title and issuing individual strata titles on new projects. We found no registration fee figure for a resale.
• Lawyer, agent and bank fees: no sourced figure. For planning we allow 1-3% of the price (our own estimate).

Illustrative total at the middle of the range, a $175,000 unit: about 5-7% on top, so $9,000-12,000, if the 4% tax applies on the full price (illustrative, not a quote).

Running costs. A guide gives the annual property tax as 0.1% of 80% of the market value after deducting $25,000, with nothing due on property below $25,000; on a $175,000 unit that is about $120 a year by that formula (our own calculation, not checked against the law). Rental income tax is reported at 10% by some guides and at 14% for non-resident individuals by others: the sources conflict, so get it confirmed. For the wider picture see total cost of ownership abroad.

Who can buy

A foreigner can hold condominium units under strata title. Several guides agree the cap is 70% of the total private-unit area in a building, with ground and underground floors excluded, and that the land stays unavailable. One guide adds that the building must date from 2010 or later and stand more than 30 km from a land border; we saw this in one source only, so have a lawyer confirm the rules for your specific building. Villas and houses on land need a different structure: see where foreigners cannot own land and what they can hold instead.

Ownership of a condo is a separate question from residence rights, and we did not research whether a purchase gives any visa benefit; check that with the immigration authority, not the seller. We found nothing reliable on local mortgages for foreign buyers, so assume you pay cash or finance from home; see mortgages for non-residents and Southeast Asia property for EU residents: tax, banking and transfers.

Yield and exit

Sellers quote gross yields of 6-7% (Cambodge Magazine, undated) and 6.5-8% in Phnom Penh (an agency's marketing). Those are seller-side figures, not independent data. Subtract rental tax, vacancy, management and service charges, and remember prices were falling while those yields were advertised. A capital gains tax of 20% is described by some sources as starting on 1 January 2026, with an option to pay on a lump sum of about 4% of the sale price; other sources report a one-year postponement to 2027 (a January 2026 tax department notice, via IPS Cambodia). Treat the rule as unsettled and ask a local adviser what applies on the date you sell.

New build or resale

Most units on offer are in towers sold off-plan or recently completed. The risk list is the usual one, made sharper by slow sales: developer delays, units delivered with a gap between the promised and the real area, and a building that never reaches the occupancy the brochure assumed. A resale unit lets you see the building and its service-charge history, but only a lawyer can confirm that the strata title for that unit has actually been issued.

Due diligence checklist

• Strata title for the exact unit, issued and registered at the cadastral office, not only a sale contract.
• Land title of the whole project (hard title versus a weaker form) and any mortgage on it.
• Construction and occupancy permits and the real stage of construction.
• The building's foreign quota: how much of the 70% is already sold.
• Whether the building meets the conditions reported above on age and distance from a border.
• Service charges, arrears and who pays them at handover.
• Official value for transfer tax and who pays what at the cadastral office (transfers took about 12 weeks in one guide).
• A guaranteed return in the contract: treat it as marketing; see property scams abroad.

FAQ

Can I buy a villa for $200,000? Not in your own name as a foreigner, because land is closed to foreign ownership. Houses and villas need a separate structure that a local lawyer must explain, and the risk is higher than with a strata unit.

Is $50,000 enough in Phnom Penh? For a small unit in a secondary project at the low end of the $1,300-1,800 per m2 estimate, yes. The price is the smaller problem: check building quality, the quota and whether it can be resold.

Is the market a buy or a wait? We cannot say. The sources we found show falling prices and weak sales in early 2026 and a more optimistic view of the high-end segment at the end of 2025. If you buy, buy something you could also hold for years.

Do I need a lawyer and a notary? You need local legal help that works for you, not for the developer. See notary or lawyer: who you need abroad.

Bottom line

For $50,000-300,000 Cambodia sells a foreign buyer one thing, a strata-titled condo, in a market where prices have been falling and sales are slow. That gives buyers room to negotiate and a long list of ways to get it wrong: a building at its foreign quota, a title that is not yet issued, a yield taken from a brochure. Compare at least eight units in two or three buildings and price everything as a total cost.

What this means for a normal buyer

• Start with the building and its title, then the unit.
• Ask whether the 4% transfer tax exemption applies this year.
• Plan for 5-7% in extra costs and for a tax rule on the sale that may change.
• Treat 6-8% yields as a marketing number until you see real leases.
• Do not count on a quick exit or on a local mortgage for your buyer.

For districts see best areas to buy property in Cambodia. An independent adviser on the buyer's side can help compare buildings and bring in a Cambodian lawyer; D.H. Realting is an independent consultancy based in Warsaw.