real estate
- Property
Guaranteed rental returns – Are they real?
If you’re looking to invest in overseas property, search the market and it’s not unusual to find condos for sale with guaranteed rental returns of 40%, and some even higher. Yes, it DOES seems too good to be true, but the offers are out there and the packages often come with free legal fees and other such benefits. Clearly, before…
- World News
Hong Kong property investors turn to SE Asia
“But now mainland Chinese, who traditionally viewed property in Hong Kong as a safe investment, are opting for rival financial hub Singapore and other south east Asian property hot spots.” by Sam Reeves, with Catherine Lai in Singapore From luxury Singapore apartments to Malaysian seafront condos, Hong Kong investors are shifting cash into Southeast Asian property, demoralised by increasingly violent protests…
- Hua Hin News
Tale of two cities – Hua Hin vs Pattaya
by Kornrawee Panyasuppakun Property buyers looking to buy a seaside villa or condo in a coastal town in Thailand, relatively close to Bangkok, confront one question – should I buy a property in Hua Hin or Pattaya? And rightly so, because these two choices have similar aspects. Both have kilometres of coastline, good beaches, and are just a couple of…
- Property
Stricter controls and paperwork putting brakes on residential property market
The honorary president of the Thai Housing Business Association, Atip Bijanonda, is tipping the local residential market may fall by up to 10% this year starved of economic confidence, the global economic slowdown and the loan-to-value limits. But he also believes the situation is far from the situation leading up to the 1997 economic collapse. The Greater Bangkok residential market…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok land prices plateau, new tax on the way
Land prices in the Thai capital are forecast to plateau, or even drop this year. This would be the first time in more than ten years that Bangkok’s land prices have levelled off. So what is causing the sudden surge in land becoming available? Property and real estate consultants say the changes can be blamed on the general economic slowdown…
- Property
14% of condos around Bangkok are empty – good time to buy
Looking for a condo around Bangkok? Now might the right time to take the plunge with the head of the Appraisal and Estate Agents Foundation saying some areas have between 8-14% vacancy rates, some areas of Bangkok up to 17.5%. Dr Sophon Pornchokchai made the remarks at a news conference yesterday. “Adding developer price wars, plus inducements to purchase, this…
- Crime News
Three Russians arrested over alleged property fraud in Pattaya
PHOTO: PattayaupdateNews Chonburi police have arrested three Russians in the car park of the Ocean Portofino Condo, next to Ocean Marina, in Na Jomtien, south of Pattaya yesterday. A 53 year old man and two women, 52 and 28 years of age. All were named in separate arrest warrants, each for fraud. They were taken to Pattaya police station after…
- Property
Hua Hin property market stabilises
The condominium market in Hua Hin is returning to a “balanced state” thanks to a slow down in the launch of local developments in the coastal town. This follows the opening of many developments in 2011 and 2012, causing demand to fall behind the supply. Knight Frank Thailand’s director of research Risinee Sarikaputra says that in the middle of 2019, the…
- Business News
Bank of Thailand relaxes Loan to Value to boost sluggish property market
PHOTO: booking.com The Bank of Thailand says it will relax the Loan to Value (LTV) for homebuyers purchasing residences together and that borrowers or co-borrowers applying for a loan under the first home buyers rule and who do not own any other residence would be given a 90% mortgage on a condominium and 95% for a single detached house and…
- Thailand News
Thai developers revising strategies after a drop in Q2
Some of Thailand’s largest property developers have reported drops in revenue and profit in Q2 2019. The slump follows commercial banks in Thailand reining in loan approvals in response to a new loan-to-value regulation that took effect on April 1. • AP (Thailand) reported total Q2 revenue of 4.8 billion baht, down 25.9% compared to last year’s 6.48 billion baht,…
- Business News
Thai land prices appreciate average of 8.3%
Land prices around Thailand have risen by an average of 8.3%, whilst land in the Eastern Economic Corridor have appreciated by more than 10% – the new land appraisals will be implemented for tax collection purposes next year, according to Wilawan Veerakun, deputy director general of the Treasury Department. The price of parcels of land in Khampaeng Phet province has gone…
- Thailand News
Chewathai launches seven new property projects in Bangkok despite slowdown
Listed property firm Chewathai says they are revising down their revenue target for this year from 2.8 billion to 1.6 billion baht after demand for residential projects has shown a slowing down in the first half of 2019. The company’s managing director Boon Choon Kiet made the announcement yesterday. Boon says Chewathai’s total revenue of 618.65 million baht in the…
- Expats
Potential for retirement properties in Thailand
by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com While a number of property offerings in Phuket, Hua Hin, Pattaya, Chiang Mai and more recently in Bangkok have promoted themselves as retirement-centric offerings, the jury is still out on the broad success of the sector. Despite retirement communities and assisted living being mainstays in Western countries like the US, UK and Australia, these are…
- Business News
Ananda development pulls the plug on Bangkok condo project
Property developers Ananda Development have pulled the plug on the development of a condo project, Ideo Q Phahon-Saphankhwai, valued at 10 billion baht, and will refund down-payments made by customers who booked units since the April launch. Ananda Development’s chief strategy officer Sumeth Ratanasrikul says that the demand to buy the project at that location didn’t match with the concept design. “Since…
- Property
Property developer confidence takes a dive in second quarter 2019
A measurement of real estate developer confidence for the Q2 2019 (April to June) has dropped to 42.2 points from 50.4 points for Q1 2019 (January to March). Thai PBS reports that the second quarter confidence index has fallen below the 50 point median index, reflecting developers’ declining confidence in the economic situation and investment in Thailand. Real estate developers…
- Property
Luxury condos change the face of Sathorn Road in Bangkok
by Somluck Srimalee, The Nation From Sathorn junction to Taksin Bridge, the riverside section of Sathorn Road has been transformed from a strip of shophouses to luxury residential condos in a gentrification that added 8,000 new apartments to the area. As well, the businesses have shifted to a more modern trade to replace the traditional trades. With the market trend, listed…
- Property
Chinese continue to soak up Thailand’s condo glut
There are man reasons why Thailand is a favourite location for property buyers from Hong Kong and mainland China – the street food and great weather are just a part of the allure. Chinese nationals spent a record 40 billion baht (US$1.25 billion) on Thai properties in 2018, according to the Bank of Thailand. So who is buying Thailand’s condominiums?…
- Property
Buyback Option at VIP KATA Condominium by Phuket9
Phuket9 Company announces a buy-back option for VIP KATA Condominium Project with a rental return of 56% over 8 years. The first two buildings of VIP KATA Condominium were launched in July 2018. After one month in August 2018, Phuket9 commenced construction of the second phase – 2 more buildings including 209 apartments, 2 common swimming pools, rooftop gardens, restaurants and a kids club.…
- Opinion
Statistics don’t lie, agents do
OPINION Anyone currently involved in the Thailand property market will be happy to note that Thailand’s global ranking for transparency within its real estate market (Jones Lang LaSalle, 2014) has improved from 39th in 2012 to 34th in 2019. What does this actually mean for the majority of us? Unfortunately, the answer is very little indeed! With almost no…
- Cannabis News
British man pioneers cannabis tom yum, police are not happy
PHOTO: Khaosodenglish A 58 year old real estate developer, living in Koh Samui for 22 years, is facing some trouble with the police for his ‘medicinal’ innovations in the kitchen. Police have arrested and charged Gary Coughlan with drug offenses after they noticed he was acting a little ‘unusual and erratic’ this morning (Wednesday). He later tested positive for drug…
- Property
Developer promises and the ‘rental guarantee’
According to a recent report from CBRE, more than 80% of Phuket condo sales offered rental guarantees in reported sales in the first six months of 2018. The report says that most of these condo sales were for properties less than 5.5 million baht. The CBRE report also noted that there were 458 condos and 56 villas sold in the same…
- Property
Buying off plan? A few things to consider.
Many developers offer units and condo “off-plan” for sale at an early stage of the project development, even before the first brick has been laid. The lure is usually a lower price and getting the pick of the best location in the development. Some of us may not be familiar with the term “off-plan”. Generally speaking, buying off-plan means buying…
