Thailand is not just a poor mans paradise

Thailands reputation as a low budget tourist destination or poor ex-pat haven may proceed itself. 





Backpackers come from all over and hit the hostels of Bangkok, Chaing mai, Koh Samui, and Koh Pan Ngans Full Moon Party.

Ex-pats that sometimes fill the description on runaway, refugee, or retiree flock lower income housing developments and apartments in Bangkok, Pattaya, and Jomtien Beach. Some stay in Thai style apartments anywhere from 2,000 THB to 6,000 THB, others buy condos starting at less than 700,000THB for smaller units.

Would you believe a high end condo unit in Bangkok has just been sold for 480 Million THB??? According to an article in the Bangkok Post, luxury property developer Pace Development Corporation Plc last month sold a 1500 square meter unit in its Ritz-Carlton Residences for 480 MB!!! 

 

• Who would buy a condo for that kind of money?? Apparently it was all affordable enough for a retired Indian property investor that has been based in Dubai.
• Why would anyone spend that kind of money? Pace Development Corporation Plc.'s chief director Sorapoj Techakraisri seems to feel that "This year will be good for the high-end residential market, as foreign buyers' confidence is growing stronger,"
• What is the Ritz-Carlton Residences? The Ritz-Carlton Residences will be a luxury condo project with 194 units priced at 280,000 baht per sq m on average for a 99-year leasehold. It is part of the 77-storey MahaNakhon luxury mixed-use skyscraper being built on nine rai of Narathiwat Road next to Chong Nonsi skytrain station.
• How will such an expensive sell?  To date, Pace has sold 100 units worth a combined 5 billion baht, with 60% bought by foreign buyers. Another 3 billion baht in sales is expected this year.

 

Wealthy foreign buyers do not feel 400,000 baht per sq m, the level now offered for a resale penthouse at the St. Regis on Ratchadamri Road, is high, as they are used to paying more than that in major destinations such as London, Hong Kong and Singapore, Mr Phanom said.

So who said Thailand is a poor country or only for washouts, sex tourists, sex-pats, and back packers. It seems Thailand is capable of drawing the worlds richest investors. The only real explanation is that contrary to popular belief...Thailand has alot to offer!!

Trat Province – a rising star in Thailand’s luxury real estate sector

This was an interesting article i found in the most recent edition of the Pattaya Mail about the rising popularity and luxury developments going on in Trat. 

Trat is a small province located very close to the Cambodian border and is the gateway to Koh Chang. I was surprised to find just how much is starting to go on there now, hope you enjoy the article.

In times gone by, few would have considered Trat as a natural location for luxury real estate in Thailand.  Tucked away in the southern corner of the kingdom’s border with Cambodia, Trat was rarely mentioned alongside Phuket, Pattaya and Samui as a place likely to attract domestic and overseas buyers of upmarket property.

However, that is certainly no longer the case and the attractions of Trat as a place to buy investment and lifestyle property have come to the public’s attention with a slew of national and international property awards going to developers there.  
                                

Koh Chang offers an idyllic tropical lifestyle. It all began in 2011 when Soneva Kiri Development on Koh Kood scooped the Best Villa Development on the Eastern Seaboard at the Thailand Property Awards.  

12 months later the accolades went to Siam Royal View, which not only created a buzz in Thai property circles, but across South East Asia and the world as well.

Last October, Siam Royal View’s Koh Chang Marina Development won the Best Villa Development on the Eastern Seaboard, the second time in succession that Trat had displaced the likes of Pattaya and scooped the prize.  The company was also a highly commended finalist in the exclusive Best Villa Development in Thailand at the South East Asian property awards held in Singapore.

A villa at the award winning Siam Royal View Koh Chang Marina. Siam Royal View enjoyed a golden year in 2012 with its condominium project also receiving high commendations at the Thailand awards and being nominated as one of the top five Marina Developments in South East Asia by the regionally respected Property Report magazine.

Located in the most beautiful corner of Koh Chang, it is not hard to see why Siam Royal View has garnered so many accolades.  In addition to bordering no less than five stunning beaches, the development is surrounded by the lush tropical forest of Koh Chang National Park.                                                                                 

Island sunsets at Siam Royal View. The development boasts world-class facilities, including state-of-the-art infinity swimming pools, a Beach Club, water sports centre and nine hole golf course. 

At the end of last year, the Siam Royal View unveiled its 75 boat yacht marina, the most modern facility of its kind within a radius of 200km.

Trat Province is a perfect location for people seeking luxury property in a pristine environment as the region remains largely unspoiled and so far unaffected by the over development that has begun to blight the more popular tourist destinations in Thailand. 

The coast and islands are a tropical paradise, much of it protected by National Park status.  The Mu Koh Chang National Park includes 54 islands alone.  It certainly seems as if the province’s star is truly on the rise.

For thos that have never been to Koh Chang check out the video below, it offers some nice scenery and information

 

Pattaya's soi Buahkhao continues to be hotspot!

Soi Buahkhao in the South Pattaya region continues to thrive!  

New shops, bars, a go-go's, restaurants, and businesses of all kinds are opening on seemingly a weekly basis and there seems to be new guesthouses with quality rooms for rent almost everytime i drive down the soi. 

We have had a number of inquiries lately regarding a newly built shophouses off a small soi. This soi is already bustling with avery successful motorbike shop, restaurant, new botique guesthouses and a 7/11 towards the end of the soi. 

For more information on these shophouses click here or e mail us at info@pattayarealestatemarket.com

Stunning new townhouses on the beach in Bang Sarae...construction already started!!

2 Story townhouses with private swimming pool and rooftop garden right on Bang Sarae beach road!

The developers of the prestigious Talay Sawan are proud to offer their newest development. this will be a string of 16 townhouses as close to the beach as permitted!

Each individual Beach House is entered through a private gated pedestrian entrance or through the remote controlled garage door entrance. You then take a walk beside your private outdoor salt water swimming pool to your entrance door. 

On the ground floor, there are two double en-suite bedrooms, with the master bedroom having glass doors leading on to a deck area where you can relax by your private pool.

Each of The Beach Houses is fully air conditioned throughout. In all there are only sixteen of these Beach Houses, with four of them having additional garden areas.

Prices are starting at 7.5 MB and construction on the first 8 has already begun! Payment schedule is as follows:

• 100,000 baht Booking & Reservation Fee

       (Contracts within 21 days of booking fee)

• 25% on Contract Signing

• 50% during Construction

• 25% on completion and transfer   

For more information please contact us at www.pattayarealestatemarket.com or e mail us at info@pattayarealestatemarket.com! 

Is the condo market in Pattaya and Jomtien Beach finally cooling off?

The buzz around Pattaya and Jomtien Beach is that sales are down!

A friend of mine from one of the most prominent reality companies here in town has confirmed rumours as to what was already believed, that sales are down this year. Down to what degree? Last month alone saw a decrease of about 75% compared to November of last year. Of course you'll still get the majority telling you sales are rocking and business is great.

What does this mean for the potential buyer?
  Overall i would have to say that it should mean nothing. If you want to have a place here in Pattaya or the neighboring Jomtien Beach and even down to Bang Sarae, these are still nice places to live regardless of what the property market is doing at the moment. Property is a long term investment in its own right, not a get rich quick overnight goldmine.

Is buying a condo right now a good idea as an investment?
 If you are looking to purchase to make a return on monthly rentals one thing you should consider is if you have enough friends that either holiday here regularly, or if you know enough locals to rent for long term. Agencies have a far bigger database of available properties than prospective renters.

Is buying and looking towards the equity a good odea over the mid to long term?
 I would have to say definitely. In the 10 years i have been here prices on everything have contimued to rise. This is in the wake of tsunamis, political instability, airport closures, foreign exchange rates declining by an average of 25%, property and land prices have continues to rise.

All in all Thailand is still a great holiday destination and place to live. Pattaya and Jomtien Beach are particularly convienent and ex-pat friendly beach communities. The newer condos offer better construction, more luxury and hold their value. In particular Nova Group and Tudor Group are some of the best deals going atthe moment.

Novana condo in Pattaya releases more foreign units

Great news for foreigners that were interested in the Novana Condo Development!

 I have just received word that Nova Group, which is the developing company behind Novana has just releases 5 more units available to foreigners!

For those unfamiliar with this development it is situated just off of Pattaya 3rd Rd. This is an ideal location for many reason.

• It is located very close to shopping andschools.
• Very convenient to local nightlife.
• 5 minutes from the beach and Bali  Hai Pier and just 10 minutes to Jomtien Beach.
• Easily accesible from local transportation.

Please contact us at info@Pattayarealestatemarket.com for more information and the best deals for this development or any of your property needs. look forward to hearing from you.

Pattaya Real Estate Market Team!

Will new condo and housing projects in Thailand be completed on time?

Thailands property developers are facing a shortage of workers.

Reports from property developers are there just not enough workers available to fill the demand for upcoming projects in the new year. The new minimum wage increases still will not solve the problem.

Thailand has a 0.6% unemployment rate according to "The Nation", and the construction, infrastructure, and manufacturing sectors are looking at a shortage of approximately 200,000 workers.

While reasons for this may be debateable and the above unemployment rate skeptable, the lack of workers seems prominent.

One attempt to solve the problem has come from the Housing Business Association asking Labour Ministry to ease restrictions on foreign workers. There are an estimated 2 million foreign workers in Thailand at the present time.

While it can't be estimated just how many delays in new projects breaking ground it would seem wiser for property buyers to be looking at projects nearing completion as opposed to buying empty shells on pieces of land that have not yet broken ground.

Here in Pattaya, where there are still a huge number of new projects lined up for 2013, even if builders can deliver units on time there may be a question of the local Thai government having enough workers to complete the necessary infrastructure...which all in the Pattaya Jomtien Beach area know is lacking to say the least.

Condo market continues to soar!

The Chonburi area is expected to see 13,000 new units this year alone with another 8,000 for the Hua Hin Cha-Am region. The greater Bangkok area is expection another 60,000 units up almost 43%. This according to a survey conducted by the REIC.

There have been some declines reported in low rise residential developments, Bangkok saw a decline of 29% in comparison to this time last year. The business section in "The Nation" has allot of buzz lately regarding housing and condo prices and the amount of current and expected development. I found these numbers and this article interesting and have posted it below.

THE NATION October 2, 2012 1:00 am

 

Huai Khwang, Chatuchak, Din Daeng, Sukhumvit from Phra Khanong to Samut Prakan, Chon Buri province, Hua Hin and Cha-am show signs of a condominium glut this year, according to the Real Estate Information Centre.

A survey by the REIC found that more than 13,000 condo units would enter the market in Chon Buri and nearly 8,000 units in Hua Hin and Cha-am this year. They will account for about a half of all sales in both locations.

In Greater Bangkok, the centre estimates new condo projects will supply 60,000 units this year, up 42.85 per cent from last year, and low-rise projects - detached houses, townhouses and duplexes - will supply 35,000 units, down 14.28 per cent. This will drive volume growth for the residential market to 15.85 per cent this year.

The full-year estimate for Greater Bangkok reflects the introduction in the first nine months of condo projects with 46,000 units, up 42 per cent from only 32,500 units in the same period of last year. Of those 46,000, 39 per cent or 18,000 units have usable space of 26 square metres or less, 36.9 per cent or 17,000 units have more then 30sqm and 23.9 per cent or 11,000 units have from 26-30sqm.

The first nine months recorded 24,000 units of new low-rise residential projects. This represented a steep decline of 29 per cent from 34,000 units in the same period of last year.

Of the condo projects launched in the first nine months in Greater Bangkok, 71 per cent were developed by 34 listed property firms and the remaining 29 per cent by 100 non-listed firms.

Of the low-rise residential projects launched in the first nine months in Greater Bangkok, 69 per cent were developed by listed property firms and 31 per cent by non-listed companies.

Samma Kitsin, director-general of the REIC, said yesterday that demand for condos was rising after the flood hit Bangkok and its suburbs late last year.
Of the condo projects launched in the first nine months in Greater Bangkok, 71 per cent were developed by 34 listed property firms and the remaining 29 per cent by 100 non-listed firms.

Of the low-rise residential projects launched in the first nine months in Greater Bangkok, 69 per cent were developed by listed property firms and 31 per cent by non-listed companies.

Samma Kitsin, director-general of the REIC, said yesterday that demand for condos was rising after the flood hit Bangkok and its suburbs late last year.

Prices in Greater Bangkok for condos rose 6.4 per cent on average this year, while detached-house prices increased 3.3 per cent and townhouse prices by 4.7 per cent. Developers had to cover their rising construction costs, he said.

The Bank of Thailand is also closely monitoring the condo market in Greater Bangkok as prices have spiked, central bank officials said last week.

The condo price index last month rose 8.1 per cent year on year, while mortgages increased 9.3 per cent. The detached-house price index climbed 2.4 per cent and that for townhouses 1.8 per cent year on year.

The supply of high-rise residential units in August expanded 4.8 per cent and that for low-rises by 13.9 per cent from July in Greater Bangkok.

Chonburi Condo market on the rise

In the hottest selling areas for condos such as Pattaya, Naklua, Jomtien, and even the proclaimed "Beverly Hills" of Pattaya..Pratumnak Hill, there seems to be one overshadowed market place.

Chonburi province in its own right boasts huge industrial compounds that require corporate housing for both Foreigners and Thal Nationals.

LPN Development is currently estimating demand at 10,000 new condominium units per year to house blue and white collar workers currently working in Chonburi factories and industrial estates. These new projects are slated to very reasonably priced starting at 550,000 Bt and not to exceed 2 Million Bt.

To gain a better understanding of just how much of a housing shortage exists through Chonburi's industrial compounds please check out the article below from "The Nation".

SOMLUCK SRIMALEE
THE NATION October 1, 2012 1:00 am

 

More than Bt20 billion worth of new condominium projects will be launched in Chon Buri province, including Pattaya, in the current second half of the year thanks to strong demand. Most of the demand is for condos priced lower than Bt2 million.

LPN Development says it sees demand in Chon Buri for nearly 10,000 condominium units per year.

These are located near eight industrial estates around the province, such as Amata, Laem Chabang, Saha Group's estate, three projects near Pinthong Industrial Estate, Hemaraj and Panthong Kasem Industrial Estate.

These estates host 479 manufacturing plants that employ more than 211,000 people, 10 per cent of whom are white-collar staff. Chon Buri also has five universities.

LPN Development managing director Opas Sripayak said many employees in the industrial estates and students and teachers in the universities rented serviced or unserviced apartments costing between Bt3,000 and Bt5,000 a month. But Chon Buri province has only 28 apartment projects with a combined 1,262 units, not enough to handle the rising demand.

The company's survey also showed that industrial-estate employees who want to buy a home needed the price not to be higher than Bt2 million.

As a result, the company decided to launch its latest condominium project, Lumpini CondoTown Chonburi-Sukhumvit, worth Bt2.6 billion. The project has 4,181 units at starting prices of Bt550,000, which have utilisation space of 21 square metres.

The project will open for booking next weekend.
By the end of last week, the company had already issued 2,000 queue tags to people interested in booking next weekend, and expects tags to total 2,500-3,000 before bookings open on Saturday.

This is an indication of the strong demand in this market after the company had successful launches of three condominium projects in Pattaya worth Bt8.2 billion in the first half of the year.

Sansiri also will launch its first condominium project in Pattaya, in the Wong Amat area, next weekend called Baan Plai Haad, worth Bt2.2 billion, with 353 units at a starting price of Bt3.59 million.

In the third quarter, Kingdom Property Co launched a condominium project called Southpoint Pattaya, worth Bt2 billion.

In the same quarter, Kotobuki Property launched a condominium project worth Bt95 million at Lamthan, Chon Buri province.

A survey by the Agency for Real Estate Affairs shows 87,500 residential units worth Bt246.5 billion in Chon Buri province, of which 60,241 have sold. The agency believes that the rest will be sold out by the end of the year because this market has strong demand, especially for units priced lower than Bt3 million.

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