Best real estate in Thailand

Property buyers and investors have returned to Thai market since last month and more transactions are expected in the second half of the year, according to Aliwassa Pathnadabutr, managing director of the property consulting firm CB Richard Ellis (Thailand).

This will be true if the government can keep the situation without violence until the election day, she said. Foreigners who do not follow Thailand's situation keep asking about the new election.

The overall outlook in the property market had improved since the Constitution Tribunal's decision in late May to dissolve the Thai Rak Thai party, a move seen as clearing up uncertainty.

But even then some people still lacked confidence until graft investigators seized the assets of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra's assets and authorities said an election could be on Nov 25.

'Demand remained strong but decisions were delayed, so as soon as everything seemed to be clear, property buyers hurried to make decisions, Ms Aliwassa said.

The most active market was the high-end residential sector. This segment is the company's residential focus. Demand was pent up and had slowed down since last year. Early-bird buyers now hurried to acquire units they had aimed at as they were afraid other buyers would grab this chance [to get a good price].

The projects that attracted buyers were mostly ones that were nearly completed. By the end of this year to early next year, two high-end residential developments Athe{aac}ne{aac}e Residence and The Infinity will begin to transfer units.

Currently, resale prices have risen 25-35% compared to prices during the launch period. Now prices are quoted at more than 100,000 baht per square metre because very few re-ale units are being offered on the market.

Ms Aliwassa added that the number of foreign buyers of high-end residential property had doubled during the 10 years since the economic crisis in 1997.

At the end of June, 42% of buyers making transactions via CBRE were foreigners, up from 20% 10 years ago.

Of the 4,000 high-end residential units the company sold during the past few years, foreigners acquired 1,680 units worth 20 billion baht. Unit sizes ranged one to three bedrooms with prices from seven to 25 million baht a unit.

Foreign buyers of Bangkok luxury residential units were based in Hong Kong, Singapore and the United States, while they came from Britain, America, Singapore and Australia.

Koreans have emerged as big-lot buyers and property developers after the Korean government allowed their people to invest overseas since mid-2006,she said.

Their interest was in condominiums, hotels and golf courses, she said. CBRE is planning to open a new business unit to take care of Korean buyers.

Earlier this year CBRE opened a new business unit to meet the needs of Japanese customers after its branch in Japan subsequently submitted many inquiries.

Japanese demand for both residential units and office space is substantial, so the company says it needs staff members who speak Japanese and understand its culture.

The company is also doing a market survey in Phuket looking at buyers from Europe, Korea, India, Dubai, Russia and Scandinavia. In September, it plans to open new branches in Samui and Pattaya.

This article was first published in The Bangkok Post 10th July 2007