Calls to restrict foreign property purchases in Bangkok

[KhaoYai]

Yes, let's stop all those nasty foreigners buying property in Thailand. Let's stop all development, bankrupt the construction companies, throw all the workers on the (non existent) dole, put the materials suppliers out of business and basically instigate a mini recession. When the construction industry fails - the domino effect takes over.  What Dr. Pornchockchai fails to realise is that the development that is taking place would not be sold cheaper to Thai buyers if further restrictions were brought in - it just wouldn't happen. This is additional business for Thailand.

 

However, I do appreciate that ordinary Thai people are not able to compete in some parts of Bangkok but the way to solve that is to 'zone' land. It is quite simple to create zones that can only be developed for the benefit of the native population.

 

Actually, maybe its not such a bad thing.  The Thai economy seems artificial to me, when you look around at all types of business, nobody's doing much yet the government claim the economy is healthy.  The baht is far too strong amongst rumours that it is being propped up.  I'm not sure that's true though - if it is, they've been propping it up for a hell of a long time - how do they pay for that?

 

Let's have another '97 style crash then all us pesky farangs can dive in and buy up millions of rai at knock down prices from the liquidators.

[blackhorse]

Personally I think anyone is mad to tie up money in a property in Thailand .............and be at the mercy of any Visa changes.

That's nonsense has been thrown about a zillion times in the last 50 years. 

Pricing these days around lower Sukhumvit is 10 million baht for 70 sqm. Punters with that type of money will always find a visa fit.

Indeed they already qualify for investment visa

 

It's only the desperate renters living on a meager pension that can't meet some visa requirements eg BE deserting them

 

[xylophone]

46 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Foreigners can't own condo's in Thailand, you heard it here first!

Are you sure about that Simoh…………Quote:-

 

Buying a condominium in Thailand as a foreigner is the easiest and most straightforward method to invest in real estate. Due to the 1979 Thailand Condominium Act, foreigners can own condominiums anywhere in Thailand 100% outright, as long as the building has not already sold its 49% foreign quota

 

[simoh1490]

19 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Are you sure about that Simoh…………Quote:-

 

Buying a condominium in Thailand as a foreigner is the easiest and most straightforward method to invest in real estate. Due to the 1979 Thailand Condominium Act, foreigners can own condominiums anywhere in Thailand 100% outright, as long as the building has not already sold its 49% foreign quota

 

 

you would need to read the post before mine where an "expert" farang declared it was so, in order to appreciate my satirical response.

[simoh1490]

4 hours ago, Mickmouse1 said:

That will reduce the amount of money coming into the country.

Indeed, by about 0.0001% of total capital inflows, devastating.

[simoh1490]

46 minutes ago, Snow Leopard said:

So it is fair market economics then? Nothing else. There are more options open to governments than to put in restrictive measures and legislation that destroys investment.   

Singapore and Hong Kong did so, the former with some success I might add, it's an easy and simple option that even the UK is considering currently. As for destroying investment: foreign companies need a 51% Thai partner here so that's the vehicle for foreign investment and the way around any additional property tax.

[xylophone]

16 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

you would need to read the post before mine where an "expert" farang declared it was so, in order to appreciate my satirical response.

Ahhhh………..yes I didn't see that in the previous post. It was well hidden/disguised and the satire went over my head I'm afraid.

 

But in my defence I didn't think you would have posted such rubbish, so thought something was amiss. ???? 

[xylophone]

36 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Singapore and Hong Kong did so, the former with some success I might add, it's an easy and simple option that even the UK is considering currently. As for destroying investment: foreign companies need a 51% Thai partner here so that's the vehicle for foreign investment and the way around any additional property tax.

New Zealand has put some restrictions on foreigners purchasing property in NZ, because the influx of Chinese house buyers has pushed up the price of houses far beyond the reach of the "everyday" Kiwi.

 

And some of them are empty whilst others are rented out as investment properties and even some with many Chinese families living in them.

 

PS. IMO this has come far too late in the piece.

[gunderhill]

Good  plan, should keep even more buyers away, developers will no doubt be ecstatic at this news

How to run ruin a business??

[xylophone]

27 minutes ago, gunderhill said:

Good  plan, should keep even more buyers away, developers will no doubt be ecstatic at this news

How to run ruin a business??

Would also mean an end to building more useless apt blocks...…….with many empty apts in them.

[Maitdjai]

Not the "Farangs", or "Foreigners" are the problem here!

It's simply the Chinese, who are buying off entire Thailand. Supported by "special" agreements with the "Super Smarts".

The "modern" colonization is on its way.

Even though the problem is determined, it might be too late, to call the new masters off!

At the moment, I think, to stop that, isn't desired anyways.

[newnative]

12 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I'm pretty sure I've seen this same guy making these same kinds of proposals here in the past, and reading news articles on same.  But I haven't heard of any move on anyone in the government's part to do anything about his proposals, as yet.

 

Do they really want to mess with the Chinese?  And if the Chinese aren't buying all these condos and such, just where are the well-heeled Thai development companies going to be getting their revenues from? Thais who are in debt up to their eyeballs already?

 

 

     Agree.  My partner and I visited a sales office for a Bangkok project being built by probably the biggest condo builder in Bangkok.  The sales office had the regular Thai sales staff and a complete, Chinese-speaking separate sales staff just for Chinese buyers.  Obviously, they wouldn't be doing this if they thought they would be able to find enough Thai buyers.  One surprise, they were reserving designated floors for Thai buyers and other floors for foreign buyers--hadn't seen that before.  

[blackhorse]

     Agree.  My partner and I visited a sales office for a Bangkok project being built by probably the biggest condo builder in Bangkok.  The sales office had the regular Thai sales staff and a complete, Chinese-speaking separate sales staff just for Chinese buyers.  Obviously, they wouldn't be doing this if they thought they would be able to find enough Thai buyers.  One surprise, they were reserving designated floors for Thai buyers and other floors for foreign buyers--hadn't seen that before.  

"Obviously, they wouldn't be doing this if they thought they would be able to find enough Thai buyers"

Nothing obvious about it. You are talking dog eat dog developers maximizing their exposure . Most certainly they will not be twiddling thumbs waiting for thais to step up or even for the Chinese to step up. It's all about aggressive selling

[seancbk]

6 hours ago, xylophone said:

Would also mean an end to building more useless apt blocks...…….with many empty apts in them.

 

Developers aren't stupid, they build when there is demand.  At least in Bangkok where the developers fund the building work themselves.  

[xylophone]

10 hours ago, seancbk said:

 

Developers aren't stupid, they build when there is demand.  At least in Bangkok where the developers fund the building work themselves.  

Bangkok perhaps, but different story where I live and in Pattaya.

[natway09]

Same problem was happening in NZ in particular Auckland. Median price got over 1 mil (22,mil Bht)

Getting ridiculous

Almost impossible for a newly married couple to even think about ownership there unless 

they traveled 3 hours to the city for work everyday.

New strict laws on foreign ownership have just been introduced

[Delight]

 It seems to me that if the Thai Authorities seriously  wish to make condos more affordable for Thai's -then the simple answer is to finally end the Thai Company 'loophole'

The way to do this is to pass legislation which specifies that if a foreigner has control via voting rights -then that company must be  a foreign company -not a Thai company.

That will mean that the 51% can  only be sold to Thai's. That in turn will mean that the average price for a Thai condo may be 50% cheaper than foreign condo.

So 2 markets  will exist within the same building.

The demand total for condos will decline -which in turn could reduce land prices.

Given less supply -it is probable that the price of the 49% will increase.

[smutcakes]

10 hours ago, Delight said:

 It seems to me that if the Thai Authorities seriously  wish to make condos more affordable for Thai's -then the simple answer is to finally end the Thai Company 'loophole'

The way to do this is to pass legislation which specifies that if a foreigner has control via voting rights -then that company must be  a foreign company -not a Thai company.

That will mean that the 51% can  only be sold to Thai's. That in turn will mean that the average price for a Thai condo may be 50% cheaper than foreign condo.

So 2 markets  will exist within the same building.

The demand total for condos will decline -which in turn could reduce land prices.

Given less supply -it is probable that the price of the 49% will increase.

I am not sure about Pattaya, but why would anyone buy a condo in a company name? The whole benefit of condos is that you can own them 100% freehold as a foreigner and completely legally. It completely and utterly negates the point of buying. When i bought i asked my lawyer whether to buy in company or personal name and he said in 10 years of handling property acquisitions for foreigners he had probably only 1 or 2 cases of buying in company names.

 

Not only is it easier to buy in your personal name, but you have no ongoing company upkeep costs and it is far easier to sell at the end as people are more reticent to buy a company which you take on any and all liabilities on and as per the 1st paragraph have to pay for the company upkeep and of course people question the legality of it and you don't need to when you can buy 100% freehold in foreign name.

[xylophone]

21 minutes ago, smutcakes said:

I am not sure about Pattaya, but why would anyone buy a condo in a company name? The whole benefit of condos is that you can own them 100% freehold as a foreigner and completely legally. It completely and utterly negates the point of buying. When i bought i asked my lawyer whether to buy in company or personal name and he said in 10 years of handling property acquisitions for foreigners he had probably only 1 or 2 cases of buying in company names.

 

Not only is it easier to buy in your personal name, but you have no ongoing company upkeep costs and it is far easier to sell at the end as people are more reticent to buy a company which you take on any and all liabilities on and as per the 1st paragraph have to pay for the company upkeep and of course people question the legality of it and you don't need to when you can buy 100% freehold in foreign name.

Agree with all you have said...…….but it seems this poster is confused (putting it nicely).

 

On another thread he is "advising" someone that this person actually owns a property 100% because he bought it via the Thai Nominee company route and shrugs off any suggestion that this route is not legal.

 

He has also started another thread suggesting that the "Thai company (route) sceptics" are wrong and that everything is ok going down this route. One wonders why he would be doing that...………..????? ????

[KittenKong]

2 hours ago, smutcakes said:

I am not sure about Pattaya, but why would anyone buy a condo in a company name?

A few reasons:

 

1. Some buildings have no available units in farang name, or those available are very expensive. Thai (company) name units tend to be cheaper or more readily available in those buildings.

 

2. For some people the company name structure has advantages in that ownership can be transferred to children or others without the cost of agents' fees and Land Office taxes etc., or to get round specific inheritance rules. But company ownership does come with extra auditing and legal costs, and annual fees, and closure fees, and these are often not taken into account.

 

3. It's a way of disguising the true ownership of property i.e. for money laundering and tax evasion.

[smutcakes]

49 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

A few reasons:

 

1. Some buildings have no available units in farang name, or those available are very expensive. Thai (company) name units tend to be cheaper or more readily available in those buildings.

 

2. For some people the company name structure has advantages in that ownership can be transferred to children or others without the cost of agents' fees and Land Office taxes etc., or to get round specific inheritance rules. But company ownership does come with extra auditing and legal costs, and annual fees, and closure fees, and these are often not taken into account.

 

3. It's a way of disguising the true ownership of property i.e. for money laundering and tax evasion.

 

I expect your point 1 is very much a Pattaya (and possibly Phuket) specific problem, in BKK i don't think there are any buildings with that problem.

 

I suppose there is some milage in points 2 & 3, but i expect it would be only a handful of cases.