Top 5 foreign nationalities buying condos in Thailand in 2022
Chinese nationals bought the most condos out of any foreign nationality in Thailand this year despite the difficulties posed by Beijing’s strict Covid-19 restrictions, which are finally easing up after three years.
In Thailand, foreigners are permitted to own 49% of the units in any condominium building. The remaining 51% must have Thai ownership.
Although fewer Chinese bought condos in Thailand this year than in previous years, Chinese owners are still dominating the foreign condo market, accounting for almost half of all condos bought by foreigners in the first 9 months of 2022.
Thailand’s Real Estate Information Centre (REIC) revealed that between January – September 2022, 7,290 condo units were transferred to foreign ownership.
The new condo owners came from…
Foreign condo ownership in Thailand 2022
- China (17.94 billion baht or 48.5%)
- Unites States (1.61 billion baht or 4.4%)
- France (1.43 billion baht or 3.9%)
- Russia (1.36 billion baht or 3.7%)
- Myanmar (1.34 billion baht 3.6%)
Cambodia came in at 7th place, accounting for a significant 2.6% of condos (977 million baht) bought by foreigners.
Chinese nationals accounting for almost 50% of all condos bought by foreigners may seem a lot but is a decrease from previous years. During 2018-21, Chinese owners accounted for 55-60% of all condos bought by foreigners.
Although Thailand has always been a popular holiday destination among Russians, Russian nationals bought more condos in the kingdom than usual this year, which can confidently be attributed to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine driving an exodus of Russians out of the country.
One anomaly is Myanmar, taking the spot at 5th place despite not even making the top 10 since 2018. Burmese nationals continue to leave Myanmar to escape the arbitrary killings and torture of civilians that continue to be committed by the military junta since they took power over the country through a military coup in February 2021.
The Chinese are expected to snap up even more of Thailand’s condos now that China is lifting its Covid-19 restrictions.
Interestingly, the top five nationalities buying condos have shifted somewhat in the third quarter of this year. In the first six months of 2022, 4,433 condominium units were bought by owners from…
- China (25.3% or 2,072 units)
- Russia (3.2% or 263 units)
- USA (2.8% or 228 units)
- UK (2% or 167 units)
- Germany (1.2% or 160 units)
