How we check projects

When a project page shows "Price verified: [date]" or "Verified by NovAsia", there is a specific editorial process behind it, not a marketing formula. Here we explain what exactly we check and how — and, just as importantly, what our checks do not replace.

Which sources we use

The priority depends on the type of claim. For a specific project's terms (price, installments, GRR, buy-back, timelines) the order is:

1. a signed SPA, an official price list, an official letter or a current developer document;
2. the official project website and the developer's official brochure;
3. written confirmation from Elvira or Valeria;
4. Pointer Property data;
5. the project's or developer's official social accounts;
6. stable local catalogues (for example, realestate.com.kh) — as a secondary benchmark;
7. two or more independent secondary sources.

For legal, tax and visa claims the priority is different: the law and a government source, an official regulator or bank, a specialist law firm with dated material, and only then an expert's practical comment. We do not use catalogues or video blogs as the sole legal source.

What exactly we cross-check

For each project we try to reconcile the following against the most authoritative source available:

• Developer and project identity — what company this is and whether it has a track record of delivered projects.
• Name, location and status — whether they match across sources.
• Price and its type — is it a developer price or a broker benchmark; discounted or full; per gross or net area.
• Unit availability — the availability of specific units (the fastest-changing field).
• Completion timelines — the completion year and the current construction stage.
• Ownership form — strata-title / freehold / leasehold, the foreign quota, land restrictions.
• Income and buy-back terms — who the guarantor is, what base the percentage is calculated on, for what term, what happens on early termination.

One source or two

One current and unambiguous primary source — for example an official contract, price list, brochure or developer website — can be sufficient. We treat a second independent source as mandatory when sources conflict, data is ambiguous, the cost of an error is high, the claim touches on law or taxes, or there is doubt about how current it is. If sources diverge and we can't resolve it, we show cautious wording or a range rather than picking a figure at random.

How we separate a developer's promise from a NovAsia calculation

This is a matter of principle. We separate four different things and try not to hand the reader a mix of them:

• A fact from a source — what is written directly in the developer's document.
• A partner confirmation — what the local partner confirmed on dynamic data.
• A NovAsia calculation — arithmetic based on confirmed inputs (for example, a month-by-month payment plan).
• A NovAsia analysis — our judgement on who the project suits and where its limits are.

A contractual income programme is always presented as the developer's obligation, not a property of the market. A market scenario (for example, expected rent) is flagged as a scenario with visible assumptions, not a guarantee. This is exactly why, in our calculations, "total return over 5 years" and "net profit" are always kept apart — they are different figures.

The verification strip: what the labels mean

On project pages and in the status board we show a compact verification strip. Here's how to read it:

If the data's freshness window has expired, the value is kept together with its original date but marked as "to confirm", and the call to action changes to "request the current price". We do not present a stale figure as current.

Why availability and price are verified separately

Price, and especially the availability of specific units, are the fastest-changing data on the new-build market. We don't run the developer's online inventory, so we don't publish a "live" unit count. Instead we record the date of the last check and honestly flag the fields that need confirming before a deal. You can always request the current price and availability — we'll check them with the developer.

What our checks do not replace

NovAsia's editorial and factual verification relies on public and supplied materials. It is not a legal opinion on the property and must not be called one. Our checks do not replace an independent legal review of the specific SPA and title documents, verification of the financial backing of the developer's guarantees, or your own due diligence. Before a deal we recommend engaging an independent lawyer and studying the contract, not just the marketing materials.

The phrase "verified by NovAsia" describes exactly this editorial process. For example: NovAsia reconciled the key characteristics with the official brochure, the current price list and the local partner's public listing — this does not replace an independent legal review of the SPA and ownership documents.