Seaside resorts near Bangkok
most popular condo market in Thailand
By Jon Fernquest |
Pattaya, Phuket, Koh Samui and Hua Hin are the seaside resorts where over 30% of luxury condominium's are located in Thailand.
These seaside resorts have had 9.5% annual growth in international arrivals since 2003.
This increased tourism has laid the foundation for a recent expansion in resort property.
Pattaya (67%) and Hua Hin (26%), both near Bangkok, dominated the launch of new condominiums in 2007.
Phuket (4%) and Koh Samui (3%), more difficult to get to from the nation's capital, were far behind.
Pattaya is not only closer to Bangkok than Hua Hin, the seaside resort town is also located in Thailand's Eastern Seaboard, a rapidly expanding industrial area.
The new Suvarnabhumi Airport, located between Bangkok and Pattaya, also makes getting to the seaside resort even easier than it used to be.
Breakdown of Buyers
Overall, Russians, Thais, British, and Australians were the top-ranked purchasers at Raimon Land in 2007, in that order.
(Read recent article on the popularity of Pattaya among Russians)
Germany and China moved up the rankings while the US and Sweden fell.
Russians, Thais and British were top-ranked in Pattaya.
Russians, British and Australians were top-ranked in Phuket.
Hua Hin is mostly a Thai market with about a 20-30% foreign share.
The Phuket and Koh Samui markets have been plagued by uncertainties in the Foreign Business Act making property rights restrictive for non-Thais.
A new area of real estate development next to Phuket island, called Greater Phuket, should add new supply to the market soon.
This is a summary of a recent report in the Bangkok Post by by Nigel Cornick, Chief Executive Officer of Raimon Land.
Here are some recent statistics:
In spite of the deceleration in the rate of new resort development launches in 2007, combined sales value leaped 12% year-on-year to 17 billion baht on the take-up of 1,789 condominium units.Pattaya's luxury condominiums sold 544 units worth 6.6 billion baht in 2007, compared to 1,609 launched, for an average of 12.3 million baht.
Hua Hin captured 6.3 billion baht on the sales of 979 units, averaging 6.4 million baht. These projects received strong interest from local investors leading to a majority of the 640 newly launched units being sold.
Limited supply on Koh Samui led to low sales last year, with only 52 units selling for an average of 15.6 million baht. The purchase of 214 units in Phuket generated 3.2 billion baht for an average price of 14.8 million baht.
The average price per square metre (psm) in Pattaya climbed 10% over 2006 to 96,332 baht psm, the highest among all resort areas, followed closely by Phuket at 95,181 baht. Samui units averaged 87,420 baht while those in Hua Hin jumped 14.6% to 72,063 baht.
Of the total resort condo sales in 2007, 27% of the units sold were priced over 100,000 baht psm, and 21% between 80,000 and 100,000 baht psm. Units in the 60,000 to 80,000 baht psm range commanded 29% while those under 60,000 baht made up 23% of the total.
It should be noted that very few of the beachfront or seaview developments are now priced under 100,000 baht psm, and sales at the top 10 most exclusive projects averaged 123,715 baht in 2007.
Vocabulary:
resorts - hotels with a lot of land around them to provide for most of a vacationer's wants without having to go outside the resort, such as food, drink, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping (See Wikipedia)
seaside resorts - a resort next to the beach and ocean
international arrivals - tourists arriving in Thailand from foreign countries
X laid the foundation for Y - X created the necessary conditions for Y to happen
expansion in resort property - more and more land used for resorts
X dominated Y - X was the biggest and most important in activity Y
Eastern Seaboard (of Thailand) - the region to the southeast of Bangkok. including Laem Chabang, Rayong, Pattaya, and Rayong, that has port facilities and many factories with large Thai-foreign joint ventures
Suvarnabhumi Airport - Bangkok's new international airport located near Pattaya (See Wikipedia)
a breakdown, give a breakdown - separating something into smaller parts to make it easier to understand
a breakdown of buyers - separating buyers into separate groups (to better understand them, and their motives)
top-ranked purchasers - the people who bought the most
rankings - a sorted list (1st, 2nd, 3rd,...), in the order from most to least in some quantity
moved up the rankings - moved to a higher ranking in the list, moved towards the top of the list
plagued by uncertainties - had problems because people couldn't predict what was going to happen, uncertain so they could carry on their business
property rights restrictive - the ways that land can be owned or leased are limited by law
deceleration in the rate of new resort development - building less resorts than they used to
beachfront - real estate (houses, condos) located next to the beach
seaview developments - condos that have a view of the sea (but may not be next to the beach)
