Houses and apartments: asking price per square foot
In 14 towns we have at least 15 house ads and 15 apartment ads that state a floor area. In all 14, the median asking price per square foot is higher for apartments than for houses. The ratio ranges from 1.3x to 3.2x.
| Town | Houses per sq ft (ads) | Apartments per sq ft (ads) | Apartment / house |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kadawatha | Rs 12,809 (95) | Rs 40,767 (68) | 3.2x |
| Kiribathgoda | Rs 15,625 (31) | Rs 46,667 (15) | 3.0x |
| Kotte | Rs 26,053 (36) | Rs 72,289 (35) | 2.8x |
| Gampaha City | Rs 13,000 (67) | Rs 33,369 (21) | 2.6x |
| Negombo | Rs 14,773 (390) | Rs 33,205 (50) | 2.2x |
| Piliyandala | Rs 15,286 (136) | Rs 34,320 (43) | 2.2x |
| Colombo 3 | Rs 35,660 (18) | Rs 76,096 (111) | 2.1x |
| Athurugiriya | Rs 19,250 (46) | Rs 38,617 (32) | 2.0x |
| Malabe | Rs 18,889 (49) | Rs 33,500 (23) | 1.8x |
| Wattala | Rs 19,414 (88) | Rs 32,938 (53) | 1.7x |
| Mount Lavinia | Rs 21,631 (21) | Rs 35,417 (57) | 1.6x |
| Dehiwala | Rs 26,729 (49) | Rs 37,644 (52) | 1.4x |
| Colombo 5 | Rs 48,913 (27) | Rs 68,293 (58) | 1.4x |
| Kottawa | Rs 17,446 (52) | Rs 22,295 (17) | 1.3x |
Why per square foot misleads
A house price includes land, an apartment price usually does not, and house floor areas are larger. Age, condition and size also differ between the two types, and the ads do not report them consistently. So a higher apartment figure per square foot describes what sellers ask, not which type is better value.
Read this before using the numbers
These are asking prices from public listings, not sale prices. A median from a small number of ads is a hint, not a market. Nothing here is valuation or investment advice. The method page explains the cleaning rules and limits.
By the PropertyLens editorial team. Updated 2 October 2026 with the same dataset as the town pages.