Thailand Property Depression

[stevieff]

I suppose you could say that the us dollar APPRECIATED 1000% against the baht and then you would be correct.

Actually I made a mistake here I think....in this case the dollar appreciated 900%.....the difference (340-34) divided by the original value (34) times 100 gives 900%.............I'm sure noone cares by now but I always like to admit my mistakes and correct them if possible.

Chownah

My bad, Chownah. I should've used the word depreciate instead of lose. In the scenario I presented, the baht didn't "lose" as you say 900 percent of it's position, it only "depreciated" 900 percent of its position. As an investor, a 900 percent depreciation is a 900 percent "loss", and so that's why I used that word. My apologies for the wrong use of a word.

[jumnien]

Just bought 176 sq. wah property on the beach in Prachuab Khirikhan city yesterday for 5.6M. I guess that means I have faith in Thai property investment over the long haul. Don't know exactly what we'll do with it in the short term, many options.

[calibanjr.]

Just bought 176 sq. wah property on the beach in Prachuab Khirikhan city yesterday for 5.6M. I guess that means I have faith in Thai property investment over the long haul. Don't know exactly what we'll do with it in the short term, many options.

I guess.

Way more than I have. That being said, I ain't got 1M baht on hand if they offered me Rockefeller Center for it, so 'nuff said.

[bingobongo]

foreigners leaving.....prices going down

Buyer's market on Koh Samui

As some foreigners look to sell, good deals are available, while more mid-market developments are in the pipeline

NINA SUEBSUKCHAROEN

Lingering political uncertainty, the amendment of the Foreign Business Act and the central bank's now-eased 30% capital controls have taken their toll on the property market on the resort island of Samui, say local real estate professionals. But with some foreigners growing disenchanted and bailing out, buying opportunities exist at good prices, says Chaiyakarn Sudampanthorn, managing director of Samui Estate Corporation.

:laugh: A lot more supply has entered the market over the past six to seven months and foreigners seem to want to sell up and move on. Mr Chaiyakarn noted that this has led to those selling in a hurry losing as much as 10-20%. :laugh:

''It's not easy to find a new buyer and this is actually an opportunity for Thais to buy,'' he said.

Lower prices mean Thai buyers who previously found real estate prices on Samui unaffordable can now snap up good real estate. They could also acquire some good land plots because large tracts of prime land have been taken over by foreign investors.

''Anyway they are starting to release the land, they are willing to sell at negotiable price, so it's time for Thais to buy,'' Mr Chaiyakarn said.

While investors might be apprehensive about buying real estate on the island in light of recent land scandals, Mr Chaiyakarn said transparency and professionalism had improved.

Local authorities brought in a computer system in January to build up a database of all land titles including Sor Kor 1 deeds, which is a notification form of land possession and shows and maintains existing rights to a particular plot.

''There shouldn't be a problem, they invested a lot in the centralised computer system _ 3-4 million baht.''

Even so, Samui Estate advises prospective buyers to hire a lawyer to check all the papers and not forgo due diligence.

The poor environment has led to very few projects being launched in the past six months. Among those that have entered the market are Laan Dara, which is offering 47 land plots for sale in the Chawaeng area with prices starting at five million baht for 200-square-wah plot.

Also on the market are pool villas developed by the owners of Punnpreeda Hip Resort, close to the hotel on Bang Rak Beach to the north of the island, with prices starting at 17 million baht. The high-end Infinity condominium project in the Mae Nam-Bang Por area is also going ahead, with a 151-square-metre unit costing 9.6 million baht.

Chaiyapat Songkijworakul, Punnpreeda's sales director, said Samui's property market was suffering from a lack of support from the government. He suggested that the authorities look at certain aspects of the law dealing with property ownership by those foreigners who are only buying units to live or retire in and not large tracts of land for development.

''Just as Thais want to live abroad, foreigners too want to live in Thailand,'' he said.

Even though it might seem that foreigners are developing a lot of property on the island, Mr Chaiyapat observed that Thais too are undertaking a lot of development and sometimes joining with foreigners as shareholders.Another recent change on Samui is the debut of resort townhouse projects, with ringing a swimming pool and with other facilities. Mr Chaiyakarn noted that these are becoming very popular and are selling fast. One example is Lynx Developments' Amara Gardens at Choeng Mon beach to the north of the island.

Adam Stanborough, Samui Estate's marketing executive, noted that in southern Spain, a popular holiday and retirement destination for Europeans, most of the development consists of townhouses and apartments because building and maintaining a villa is expensive.

He likes condominium developments because these are turnkey products that are easy to rent out.

One reasonably-priced condominium that is about to enter the market lies close to the Central Samui Village hotel to the south of the island. Mr Stanborough expects there will be 74 units priced in the range of five million baht.

His advice to developers is not to overcharge because they might end up with something that cannot be sold.

Mr Chaiyakarn said that lower-end products, in the range of five million to 10 million baht, were attracting the most attention. Thai buyers appear not to care for resort townhouses and mostly opt for the more conventional variety, priced at 2.5 million baht on average. Shophouses on the island cost from 4-7 million baht.

Both resort townhouses and condominiums can be rented out, with 6% to 8% annual returns depending on location, according to Mr Chaiyakarn.

However he said the trend in Samui was similar to that in Pattaya, where landlords often get leases of three to six months and not a full year.

[rott]

Does anyone know roughly how many condos there are in pattaya/jomtien, and how many are on the market at any one time?

On average how long are they on the market for before selling?

Same for bangkok.

[sukanyacondo]

I bought last year in April and now rent 3 condos out. I was worried with all the new laws and coup etc but have seen no drop in demand yet for our condos. I am about to buy a fourth soon. I have had them empty for a total of 2 weeks in the last 52 weeks and thats for all 3 not 1, part of that time was spent cleaning and re painting.

I have one already booked and deposit paid of 7000 baht to hold it until its available in June for another 1 2 months lease, the second is booked for 6 months and the third has just been advertised an will be available in July. I have 3 people coming to look at this in the next week. I was going after the farang market but so far have had an equal amount of Thais and farangs book and stay.

This is just my observations in one location of Bangkok.

Now my only worry is the maintenance issues that will crop up as they age. I may well sell in about 5 years if I can find buyers. The return is more than 10% I paid 1.2 million for each studio and others in the block selling are now asking 1.35 million upwards and this is approximately what i will pay for the 4th one (my wife will buy it the owner does not know I am farang for obvious reasons)

I saw comments on a forum after i advertised that my rental charges were way to high and did not "add up" ,it did worry me then but it doesnt worry me now. I offer "service" something many Thais seem to lack. An example of this was a new customer asked the best way to the airport so we physically took him several ways one sunday and even paid his fares and this was a 10 mile each way trip. If it breaks it gets fixed or replaced the same or next day, if there are any problems we are there within the hour and where possible find a solution, maybe this is what people want? its certainly means a lot to me and I am happy to pay more anywhere to actually get "real" service ass opposed to "lip service"

The clue is in my name for those who didnt know.

I am relatively happy but after number 4 condo i will be stopping as i dont want all my eggs in one basket and will be looking for other opportunities.

[craigt3365]

Sounds like you are doing great! If you don't mind me asking, what do you rent them for? I am just about ready to "settle" down in Thailand and am debating the rent vs. buy issue. Since we will probably be in Thailand very long term, buying seems the best way to go. And I have been in Thailand off and on for over 5 years...so know the country fairly well...

Anyway, congrats!!!!

Craig