The Burmese government move to Pyinmana has given a big boost to property prices there, according to real estate agents. At the same time, they report a slow-down in the real estate market in Rangoon.

Prices in central Pyinmana have leapt as much as tenfold in one year, said a Rangoon-based estate agent who is busy now in the property market in Burma’s new administrative center.

“In downtown Pyinmana, near the clock tower and the market, sites of between 100 and 150 square feet, which last year were selling for 10 millions kyats (US $8,849), are now fetching more than 100 millions kyats (US $88,495), a tenfold increase.”

By contrast, real estate prices in Rangoon are showing signs of a slow-down, according to San Aye, of Rangoon’s Moe Thauk Kyae Real Estate Services. In some cases, asking prices had halved. “The real estate market in Rangoon seems silent, dead,” he said.

Another Rangoon estate agent, of Golden Residence Co, said it was a buyers’ market, with many more homes for sale than purchasers.

The real estate market usually follows economic trends, but San Aye said the current boom in Pyinmana and slow-down in Rangoon had been triggered by the government decision last November to relocate key ministries to Pyinmana.

The government move is bringing many changes to Pyinmana, according to residents. The city has become more crowded, and prices-not only in the real estate market-have risen.