Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea lets any person search the land register on payment of a fee — K50 a folio under the 1999 regulation — but only for the alienated land held mostly as State leases; most of the country is customary land outside the register, and there is no free or bulk owner search.
10 buildings · 9 with an owner established · 37 sources · 6 tier B · 4 tier A · prepared 2026-10-20
Registered land in Papua New Guinea is held under the Land Registration Act 1981 (Chapter 191), kept by the Registrar of Titles in the Department of Lands and Physical Planning. Section 173 says 'A person may, on payment of the prescribed fee, have access to the Register for the purpose of search', and the Land Registration Regulation 1999 sets the fee 'For a search of a folio or document' at K50.00 (reprint in force 1 July 2001; a later amendment was not found). In Port Moresby most titled land is State land let on State leases, so the register's 'registered proprietor' is a lessee of the State, not a freeholder; customary land is held by clans under custom and is not on this register unless leased out.
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The marquee buildings
The towers that set the tone of the core, and who holds them. A price is the price a document states, on the date it states — not an estimate of what the building is worth now.
| Building | Use | Owner | Owner type | Last price paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Parliament House (Parliament Haus) Waigani, Port Moresby |
Civic | Not established a paid title search would answer it The seat of the National Parliament. Wikipedia's Port Moresby article says new government buildings were built in Waigani after independence, 'including a National Parliament Building, which was opened in 1984'; Business Advantage PNG describes it as 'best known for its steep roof depicting a Sepik spirit house'. No source read names the registered holder of the land; the State is the obvious candidate but this record names an owner only where a document says so. A folio search at the Titles Office (K50) would answer it. |
Not established | —B |
| Jacksons International Airport (Port Moresby International Airport, POM) Morea-Tobo Road, 8 km from central Port Moresby |
Civic | National Airports Corporation Limited NAC's own pages: it 'owns and operates 22 national airports', the first listed being Port Moresby; it is 'a State-owned Company, established under the Civil Aviation Act 2000 (as amended) and incorporated in 2009', and 'is owned by the people of Papua New Guinea through the trustee shareholding of the Minister for Treasury and Finance and the Minister for Civil Aviation'. NAC's airport office is on the first level of the domestic terminal, Morea-Tobo Rd. Whether the land itself is a State lease to NAC or remains State land was not stated. |
Government | —A |
| Port of Motukea (Motukea International Terminal) Motukea, Fairfax Harbour, Port Moresby |
Industrial | PNG Ports Corporation Limited PNG Ports: it is 'a State Owned Entity (SOE) whose ownership is vested in trust with the Kumul Consolidated Holdings (KCH) on behalf of the Government of PNG', the 'sole authority over all declared ports' managing 15 of 23, including 'Motukea (Port Moresby)', and its core business has been 'to act as a land lord authority'. Its Motukea page calls it the second-biggest port in PNG, serving NCD, Central and Gulf, with berths of 250 m (MIT 4) and 202 m. Port operations moved here from the old downtown port in 2015 (BAPNG). Tier B: PNG Ports' pages describe management and a landlord role rather than stating title to the Motukea land. |
Government | —B |
| POM Port Redevelopment (former Port Moresby port site) Downtown waterfront between the PNGDF Lancron naval base and Steamships' Harbourside, Port Moresby 38.4 hectares (site, incl. 3.2 ha reclaimed) |
Land | Kumul Consolidated Holdings 99-year State lease from 8 Aug 2023 Business Advantage PNG (Sept 2024): 'State-owned KCH took over the former port site from PNG Ports Corporation Limited in 2015, when port operations moved to the new port facility at Motukea.' The 38.4 ha site's masterplan was approved by the National Capital District Commission in 2024; 3.2 ha of underwater lease area was turned into usable land; quoting the project: 'The total area has been rezoned, from industrial to business, and has been leased to KCH for 99 years from August 8, 2023.' KCH is opening it to investors; no price was stated. |
Government | —A |
| Harbourside precinct (Harbourside East, West and South, incl. Marriott Executive Apartments) Champion Parade / Stanley Esplanade waterfront, downtown Port Moresby ('Town') |
Mixed use | Harbourside Development Limited Steamships Trading Company 50% (joint venture) Steamships' 2025 annual report lists Harbourside Development Limited as a joint venture with a 50% ownership interest (assets K475.8m, liabilities K489.9m, revenue K30.05m in 2025) and secured loans to it of K129.9m at 6.5%. Business Advantage PNG (2022) says Steamships' subsidiary Pacific Palms Property 'is behind the current Harbourside South development'; Steamships' MD (2025) calls Harbourside South 'including the Marriott Executive Apartments' part of a waterfront strategy linking Harbourside East and West, commercial space 'fully tenanted'. The other 50% partner is not named in the sources read. Marriott is the brand, not the owner. |
Private company | —B |
| Vision City Mega Mall and Sheraton Port Moresby Stanley Hotel & Suites Waigani, Port Moresby |
Mixed use | RH Group (Rimbunan Hijau) Business Advantage PNG (Oct 2019): 'PNG's largest hotel, the Stanley Hotel at Vision City, which is part of the Malaysian-owned RH Group, and opened in 2016'. BAPNG (Jan 2016) calls it 'R H Group's Stanley Hotel' and Vision City 'its landmark Vision City project in Port Moresby'. The Stanley (19 storeys, 429 rooms in 2016) is 'attached to Vision City Shopping Mall' (BAPNG review). In Aug 2026 it reopened as Sheraton Port Moresby Stanley Hotel & Suites (394 keys, 'connected to Vision City Mega Mall'); Sheraton is the brand, not the owner. Tier B: the sources describe RH projects; no title was read and no owning subsidiary is named. |
Private company | —B |
| Hilton Port Moresby Hotel & Residences and Kutubu Convention Centre (Star Mountain Plaza) Waigani, Port Moresby |
Hotel | Star Mountain Plaza joint venture (the State with Petroleum Resources Kutubu Ltd, Mineral Resources Star Mountains and Mineral Resources Ok Tedi; MRDC as trustee) Business Advantage PNG (Nov 2018), at its opening: the hotel and the adjacent Kutubu Convention Centre are 'the first part of the Star Mountain Plaza project, a joint venture between the government and three major provincial landowner companies: Petroleum Resources Kutubu Limited (PRK), Mineral Resource Star Mountain (MRSM) and Mineral Resource Ok Tedi (MROT). It is under the trusteeship of state-owned Mineral Resource Development Company (MRDC).' 212 rooms. Hilton is the operator/brand. The JV's shares were not stated. |
Government | —A |
| Nambawan Plaza Precinct (Deloitte Haus, Crowne Plaza Apartments, Nambawan Plaza penthouses) Downtown Port Moresby, overlooking Fairfax Harbour (street address not stated in the source) |
Mixed use | Nambawan Super Limited 90% (as stated) A Nambawan Super promotion in Business Advantage PNG (Oct 2019): the precinct (office, dining, retail and residential) is '90 per cent of which is owned by Nambawan Super members through the fund'; expected to return 'K50 million a year'. Deloitte Haus opened 2016, office over 11 floors with four basement parking levels; Crowne Plaza Apartments are 54 serviced apartments 'managed by InterContinental Hotels Group' (operator, not owner); 14 penthouses of 250–765 m². The holder of the other 10% is not stated. Sponsored content, quoting the fund. |
Pension fund | —A |
| Paga Hill Estate Paga Hill headland, Chalmers Crescent, bordering the CBD, Port Moresby 25 hectares (site) |
Land | Paga Hill Development Company 99-year lease BAPNG (2015): 'With a 99-year lease, the Paga Hill Development Company's master plans include' a hotel, serviced apartments, a marina and a cruise terminal; a K85 million works program; the site had been 'a squatter settlement since the mid-1990s, when a National Housing Corporation site was decommissioned', and in May 2012 the company 'attracted controversy when it began demolishing squatters' homes, prompting an injunction'. BAPNG (Sept 2024): a 25-hectare site; PHDC had stockpiled 'K35 million worth of materials' and was ready to start in Q2 2025 'if the government comes to the table with some co-funding'; a planned Radisson precinct of 229 rooms. Stalled development. |
Developer | —B |
| Grand Papua Hotel Downtown Port Moresby ('Town') |
Hotel | Steamships Trading Company Limited (Coral Sea Hotels) Steamships' group page: 'Built in 2011', 102 Premier and Executive rooms, 51 suites and, on the 16th floor, 4 Grand Junior Suites and 4 Grand Suites; operated by its Coral Sea Hotels. The 2025 annual report describes a multi-year capital-expenditure programme 'across its Port Moresby hotels, including the Gateway Hotel, Ela Beach Hotel and Grand Papua Hotel'. Business Advantage PNG (Mar 2024) quoted Coral Sea Hotels planning to spend 'around K70–80 million over the next two years' on it. The report calls them its hotels; no title entry was read (note 14 records 'state land leases related to properties owned by the Group'). |
Public company | —B |
The core land
The most valuable ground in the city, and what the public record says about it.
PNG publishes no valuation roll or sales register for Port Moresby that could be read: the Department of Lands' site refused all requests and no NCDC rating data was found. The figures below are the only stated values found, each from a named source and date; they are not a land-value benchmark.
Who owns the town
At this scale the significant owner is rarely a trust or a fund: it is one or two local holding companies, a family in its second or third generation, and often the land around the town rather than the buildings in it.
Port Moresby is built on the traditional land of the Motu and Koitabu people, and most of the country is still customary land: Business Advantage PNG's legal guide puts it at 'Approximately 97 per cent of land in Papua New Guinea', held by traditional owners under custom. A foreign investor 'cannot purchase or lease customary land directly'; the government acquires it and leases it out, and non-citizens may not own freehold. The city's titled ground is therefore overwhelmingly State land on State leases of up to 99 years, so the large holders are the State's own companies (KCH, NAC, PNG Ports), a handful of lessee-developers, and the customary villages whose land surrounds the leases. No source states the share of the National Capital District that is alienated versus customary.
| Name | Type | Holdings |
|---|---|---|
| The Independent State of Papua New Guinea (State land, let as State leases) BAPNG legal guide (2020): alienated land 'can be held either as freehold or leasehold from the State', but 'freehold land makes up a small proportion'; leasehold is land 'the government has acquired from its customary owners and leased to a person or company for a term of up to 99 years'. Steamships' 2025 report carries K25.6m of lease liabilities for 'state land leases related to properties owned by the Group' — even the largest private landlord holds its ground from the State. No figure for State land within NCD was found. |
Government | lessor of all State leases; c. 97% of PNG is customary land, the rest alienatedA |
| Motu and Koitabu (Motu Koita) customary landowners — ten recognised villages, represented by the Motu Koita Assembly Wikipedia: the Motu Koita Assembly was 'established by an act of parliament to represent the traditional landowners of Port Moresby, the Motu and Koitabu people' and 'governs the traditional lands and inhabitants of the ten recognised villages', the only entity of its kind in PNG; its chair is Deputy Governor of NCD (marked citation needed). The Assembly's chairman joined the Portside Business Park groundbreaking in Oct 2024 (BAPNG). Tier B: the Assembly's own statute was not read. |
Institution | traditional lands of the ten recognised villages (area not stated)B |
| Kumul Consolidated Holdings BAPNG (Sept 2024): KCH 'took over the former port site from PNG Ports Corporation Limited in 2015'; the site was rezoned industrial to business and 'leased to KCH for 99 years from August 8, 2023'. KCH is also the trustee shareholder of PNG Ports ('ownership is vested in trust with the Kumul Consolidated Holdings', PNG Ports). |
Government | 38.4 ha former downtown port site, 99-year lease from 8 Aug 2023A |
| Steamships Trading Company Limited (Pacific Palms Property) Steamships' MD (Mar 2025): 'We bought what was essentially a barren piece of land' for Portside; groundbreaking release: 'approximately 38 hectares', circa K1bn when fully developed. The 2025 annual report describes 'a substantial landbank of strategically located, securely titled properties'. Majority shareholder JS&S (PNG) Limited (Swire group) 72.12%. |
Public company | Portside Business Park c. 38 ha at Motukea; 'over 200 properties' in seven towns; 'a substantial landbank'A |
| National Airports Corporation Limited NAC 'owns and operates 22 national airports'; State-owned, shares held in trust by the Ministers for Treasury and Finance and for Civil Aviation. |
Government | 22 national airports incl. Jacksons International (area not stated)A |
| PNG Ports Corporation Limited State-owned, held in trust by KCH; describes its traditional core business as acting 'as a land lord authority'; its property arm markets 'ports and other land holdings' including in Port Moresby (no Port Moresby area given; its flagship Lae Industrial Park is 350 ha, outside this city). |
Government | Port of Motukea (storage area 2.26 ha stated); 15 of 23 declared ports nationwideB |
| Paga Hill Development Company BAPNG 2015 and 2024 (see marquee). The site was formerly a National Housing Corporation site, decommissioned in the mid-1990s. |
Developer | 25 ha Paga Hill headland, 99-year leaseA |
Who builds the houses
New-home building in this market: the volume, and the firms behind it. Ownership of a builder matters as much as its volume — a private-equity platform and a family firm behave differently.
Port Moresby has no builder league table, no published starts series and, until 2022, no strata title — the PNG Property Developers Association noted that strata laws were 'finally passed by Parliament' in 2022, letting buyers own units in larger developments (BAPNG). New housing is built on State leases or on customary land developed with the landowning village, and the market splits sharply: high-end apartments let to companies and expatriates (rents fell up to 50% in 2021 with vacancies of 30–90%, per a Port Moresby agency quoted by BAPNG), and house-and-land packages for a growing local middle class around K350,000–K500,000. The figures below are each builder's own stated project figures, assembled from press; they are not comparable annual output.
| Name | Type | Stated project figure |
|---|---|---|
| National Housing Corporation BAPNG (May 2015): the Government announced 'plans for the National Housing Corporation (NHC) to build up to 40,000 new affordable homes around Port Moresby', launched 'at two areas outside of the PNG capital'. No completion figure was found. |
Government | up to 40,000 homes announced (2014)A |
| Rhodes PNG Limited (Tuhava Town) At Napa Napa, 'around a half-hour drive from Port Moresby International Airport', worked 'very closely with Roku village because they are the local customary landowners'; two-bedroom house-and-land from K390,000, four-bedroom from about K450,000. Whether Napa Napa lies inside the NCD boundary was not checked. |
Private company | 4,000 homes planned over 20 years; 38 under construction (Jul 2024)A |
| Nambawan Super Limited (Rangeview Precinct) Nambawan Super promotion, BAPNG (Oct 2019): Rangeview 'will include two commercial buildings with 280 car parks, and 88 townhouses', expected late 2020; also 14 penthouses at Nambawan Plaza. |
Pension fund | 88 townhouses plus two commercial buildings; K296m total costA |
| Steamships Trading Company Limited (Pacific Palms Property) 2025 annual report; the residential share is not broken out. BAPNG (Apr 2026): its property head flags 'shortages in residential properties, where Pacific Palms is hoping to continue making investments'. |
Public company | part of 'over 200 properties' (residential, commercial, retail, industrial)A |
| Glory Group of Companies; JC-KRTA Consulting Group with Boera Holdings; South Pacific Homes (Curtain Bros–Parkside Group JV) Named in BAPNG (Sept 2016) by a property consultancy as developers of Skyview Estate and Glory Garden Estate (Glory Group), EDAI Town (JC-KRTA with Boera Holdings) and South Pacific Homes; average land-and-house cost then 'about K400,000'. |
Private company | no unit figures statedA |
Commercial landlords
The commercial side, counted separately from housing: who holds the office, retail and industrial floor area.
Port Moresby has no REIT and no listed property trust — the PNG Property Developers Association (formed 2022) said a sub-committee was 'researching how to introduce REITs in PNG', and strata title only became law in 2022 (BAPNG). Large-scale development has been driven by 'a handful of companies': the superannuation funds Nambawan Super and Nasfund, Credit Corporation, and the development arms of Curtain Bros, Steamships and Lamana Development (BAPNG 2022). The landlords are therefore a listed conglomerate, two pension funds, a finance company and private groups; few publish a floor-area figure.
| Name | Type | Portfolio |
|---|---|---|
| Steamships Trading Company Limited (Pacific Palms Property) Steamships' 2025 annual report: Pacific Palms Property has 'a portfolio of over 200 properties across Residential, Commercial, Retail, and Industrial asset classes in Port Moresby, Lae, Madang, Wewak, Goroka, Mount Hagen, and Rabaul' and 'a substantial landbank of strategically located, securely titled properties'. Note 11: investment properties net book value K445,708k, valuation range K1,653,636k–K2,067,045k (estimated internally). Listed on PNGX and ASX; JS&S (PNG) Limited holds 72.12%. Its group page says PPP is 'Owning and managing commercial, industrial and residential properties across PNG'. |
Public company | over 200 properties nationwide; investment properties K445.7m book value, fair value K1.65bn–K2.07bn (31 Dec 2025)A |
| Nambawan Super Limited Its CEO, BAPNG (Aug 2018): 'We hold about 14 per cent in property'. Holdings include the Nambawan Plaza Precinct (90%) and Rangeview Precinct (s17). The fund's own portfolio page lists more (Aopi Centre, Coastwatchers Court, Moki Business Park, per search results) but its terms forbid automated tools, so it was not read. |
Pension fund | about 14% of fund assets in property (2018); Nambawan Plaza expected K50m a yearA |
| RH Group (Rimbunan Hijau) See marquee; tier B because no owning subsidiary or title was read. |
Private company | Vision City Mega Mall, and the Stanley hotel (now Sheraton, 394 keys) — no floor area statedB |
| Credit Corporation (PNG) Limited BAPNG (Mar 2022): its half-year was 'impacted by lower occupancy in its residential property portfolio', and an analyst 'suggests that Credit Corporation's property portfolio could be sold to fund the transition into a bank'. Its own site returned 404 and no annual report was read. |
Public company | residential and commercial property portfolio (size not stated)B |
| Kumul Consolidated Holdings See marquee. |
Government | 38.4 ha former port site (99-year lease)A |
Looked for and not found
Claims this page would have made if a source could be opened. They are left out rather than guessed.
- APEC Haus (Ela Beach, reclaimed land): BAPNG (Mar 2017, s24) says 'LNG producer Oil Search is carrying out the work, which is funded through a tax credit scheme'; search results (Upstream) say Oil Search handed it over to the government, but no opened source states who now holds the land, so it is not listed as a marquee owner.
- The K50 folio-search fee is from the Land Registration Regulation 1999 as reprinted (in force 1 July 2001); a later fee amendment may exist — the DLPP site that would show current fees refused every request.
- National Parliament House: the registered holder of the Waigani parliamentary land is not stated in any source read (assumed State, not claimed).
- Harbourside Development Limited: Steamships holds 50%; the other 50% shareholder was not named in any source read.
- Nambawan Super's domestic portfolio page (per search results) lists holding companies such as Rangeview Heights (Waigani Drive), Moki No. 10 (Moki Business Park, Waigani), Coastwatchers Court (31 apartments, Touaguba Hill) and the Aopi Centre (six-level twin-tower office complex, Waigani Drive); not opened because the site's terms forbid automated tools, so none is recorded as an owner.
- NASFUND (National Superannuation Fund) is a major Port Moresby property investor per BAPNG (2022, s10) and holds 6.00% of Steamships (s4), but no figure for its own property holdings was found.
- Credit Corporation's property portfolio size and building list; its own site was unreachable (404).
- No source stated the split of NCD land between customary, State-leased and freehold, nor the area of informal settlements.
- University of Papua New Guinea (Waigani), Port Moresby General Hospital and Sir John Guise Stadium: landholders not stated in any source read.
- Kina Bank, BSP and other PNGX-listed companies' Port Moresby premises: pngx.com.pg returned 403 for robots.txt, so no PNGX filing was fetched.
Sources
- Land Registration Act 1981 (Chapter 191), consolidated — s. 173 Searches of Register and copies of instruments — Independent State of Papua New Guinea, via FAO FAOLEX · openA
- Land Registration Regulation 1999 (No. 6 of 1999), reprint in force 1 July 2001 — Schedule 2 Scales of Fees — Independent State of Papua New Guinea, via FAO FAOLEX · openA
- Land Regulation 1999 (No. 5 of 1999), reprint in force 25 Oct 2002 — Schedule 1 fees (Land File Search Fee K20; Land Information Search Fee K1) — Independent State of Papua New Guinea, via FAO FAOLEX · openA
- Steamships Annual Report 2025 (year ended 31 Dec 2025; notes 11, 14, joint ventures; 20 largest shareholders at 28 Feb 2026) — Steamships Trading Company Limited · openA
- Our Company — joint ventures and property businesses — Steamships Trading Company Limited · openA
- Building for the future: Steamships MD on developments across Papua New Guinea — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Steamships breaks ground on Portside Business Park (promotion) — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Portside Business Park to open soon — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Grand Papua Hotel (group hospitality page) — Steamships Trading Company Limited · openA
- Papua New Guinea's property developers join forces — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Marriott puts out the welcome mat in Port Moresby — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Pacific Palms Property (group property page) — Steamships Trading Company Limited · openA
- Conditions of Use; Our History — National Airports Corporation Limited · openA
- Who We Are; Port of Motukea; Property — PNG Ports Corporation Limited · openA
- 'Transformative' Port Moresby port redevelopment ready for investors — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Hilton Hotel opening in Port Moresby a 'key story' for Papua New Guinea says MD — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Nambawan Super: developing premium real estate (promotion) — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Paga Hill aiming to bring slice of global cruise market to Papua New Guinea — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Paga Hill development to transform Papua New Guinea's capital — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- What's on the agenda for Papua New Guinea business in 2016? — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Review: the Stanley Hotel, Papua New Guinea's new resort-style giant — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Sheraton Hotels & Resorts debuts in Papua New Guinea with the opening of Sheraton Port Moresby Stanley Hotel & Suites (promotion) — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Port Moresby (article: National Parliament building opened 1984 in Waigani; Motu Koita Assembly) — Wikipedia · openB
- Why hosting APEC will transform Papua New Guinea — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Tourism in Papua New Guinea: a sector profile — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Land ownership in Papua New Guinea explained (legal guide) — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Is more affordable housing on the way in Papua New Guinea? — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Breaking new ground: Tuhava Town shows the way for land use in Papua New Guinea — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Demand for affordable housing sees price rises, according to Papua New Guinea property survey — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Rents take a tumble in Papua New Guinea's capital, Port Moresby — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Super fund executives outline their investment strategies — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Credit Corporation banks on the future in Papua New Guinea — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Inside Steamships' property investment 'master plan' — Business Advantage PNG · openA
- Terms of Use — Nambawan Super Limited · openA
- Terms of Use Policy — The National (thenational.com.pg) · openA
- Disclaimer & Copyright — Steamships Trading Company Limited · openA
- Disclaimer & Copyright — Swire Pacific Limited · openA