47 minutes ago, samtam said:

All units are sold, (owned), even if not occupied, so there is no outstanding on Common Area Fee. 

 

Not intending this to be a pointed question, do you have a problem collecting the association fees from the non-occupied units?

 

2 hours ago, Pinot said:

Why would anyone buy a condo in Thailand? 

 

People who can, buy, people who can't, tell everyone else not to.

On 11/3/2025 at 9:42 AM, Artisi said:

And how will they handle vacant real estate that's been on the market at a reasonable price for a number of years that cannot be sold? 

Typical Thai approach, blast with a shotgun and then ask who's there. 

A reasonable price is exactly the price buyers are willing to pay!!

It beats not having enough housing but wasting it on illegal immigrants, I'd say! I much prefer Thailand's real estate and rental market.

I kinda like tha fact that market forces are working as they should. Sellers not willing to eat a loss on their properties and just holding on to these eliminates a lot of the speculation that eventually will price out a majority/almost everyone.

 

The article misses the fact that a lot of Thais want new built homes instead of a renovation project. Keeping the foreign condo ownership under 49% and prohibited land ownership also keep speculators from creating a property investment bubble. So I see many upsides to the current property market as well.

Houses/Condos are only worth what people will pay for them. No point in upping the price if no-one will pay it, but it seems typical in Thailand if no demand, up the price, Unbelievable Jeff.

If Thailand keeps saturating the market with new construction that is not checked or put through some type of planning system by the different provinces. Thailand will always have a bad real estate market.  There is no control.  When the market gets good developers come in and oversaturate the market. Which makes all owners lose money.  There is no check and  balance system here. They cause

their own problems.

20 hours ago, ronnie50 said:

The other issue of course, as already noted by others, is the price of the condo is out of sync with the rental market. As many long-time expats know, it's actually cheaper to rent a nice place here than it is to buy one. (but many buy anyway, just cause they want one in their name). My point is the ROI of a purchase doesn't sync with the rent one can ask for these places. Even the small cubbyholes that people bought to rent out sit empty, unless they lower their prices to negative return. It's because the developers have flooded the market and few Thais can afford to pay 15,000 - 25,000 baht a month for 25 sqm one bed or studio. So who else is going to rent it? There aren't enough foreigners here, or lower-middle class Thais (with enough income), to rent them. The building I'm in is probably right on that 75% occupancy mark. On my floor, half sit empty and have been that way for a couple of years.

Nobody with some common sense rents for that money a shoe box of 25sqm. The entire concept and design of the units is failure to begin with, way better in cambodia nowadays where they even offer you mortgages on top. Same with many 2-3-4 bedroom options.

My predictions are slowly coming to fruition, always said I'll wait until they're 20 baht each then I might consider buying a few. Absolutely worthless 🤣😂🤣

There is only one solution.  Build more!!!!!!!

20 hours ago, Sir Dude said:

It's not really attractive enough of a deal to invest in property here, as there's too much red tape and nationalist nonsense on ownership laws.

Sure, if you are happily married for a few decades and have bought your wife a house in her name and the relationship is pretty secure, then fine... but other than that, the goal posts keep changing and it's murky as hell on condos and lease times, and who knows what these idiots will dream up with the next change of government... it's a fool's errand to invest in Thailand, unless you are Thai.

Spot on. I've been saying exactly this for the past 25yrs and it's getting worse day by day 

On 11/3/2025 at 9:42 AM, Artisi said:

And how will they handle vacant real estate that's been on the market at a reasonable price for a number of years that cannot be sold? 

Typical Thai approach, blast with a shotgun and then ask who's there. 

Look 👀 squirrel 🤣🤣🤣

On 11/3/2025 at 10:02 AM, watchcat said:

well, enforce it,

Do you have a reading comprehension problem? They just effin said there are no laws 🤷

On 11/3/2025 at 10:22 AM, Geoffggi said:

This is what can happen when following Chinese initionatives, look no further than the housing in China 

Another squirrel... LOOK 👀 

3 replies in and I can't take it 😜

Thumbs down all ya want losers, but the first 3 responses had no idea of what they were responding to. It's a NATIONAL issue, one many countries face, not an effin opportunity for whataboutism 😳

31 minutes ago, Toby1947 said:

Spot on. I've been saying exactly this for the past 25yrs and it's getting worse day by day 

So very true and only a fool buys property in Thailand. I am one of those fools and if I had to do it over again, I would not. But about 10 years ago I bought a 150 SM condo on a high floor with two large decks off each bedroom. I spent almost 2 million on remodeling after purchase. So now I have a very nice condo to live in but it is depreciating as the building like most, are not keep up. So what to do? I will just keep living in it and enjoying my life until I die. If I had to buy a unit like this in the West, I might not be able to afford it. 

On 11/3/2025 at 4:42 AM, Artisi said:

And how will they handle vacant real estate that's been on the market at a reasonable price for a number of years that cannot be sold? 

If it cannot be sold then it's not a reasonable price. Anything reasonably priced sells at a reasonable timeframe. Supply and demand 101.

On 11/3/2025 at 5:08 AM, mfd101 said:

Um, so, are prices falling - whether for purchase or for rent?

On the contrary. I've had numerous price hikes in the last few years. Owners are under the illusion that the pre-Covid demand is back (it isn't). I actually moved out of a 1 bedroom unit that I originally rented for 24k and within a year the owner wanted to jack it up to 30k. No thanks.

On 11/3/2025 at 11:17 AM, candide said:

That's part of the problem. It seems that many owners prefer to keep an empty house/flat for years rather than lower their price.

The Chinese way (and a lot of the empty condo owners are indeed Chinese).

3 minutes ago, PingRoundTheWorld said:

On 11/3/2025 at 4:17 PM, candide said:

That's part of the problem. It seems that many owners prefer to keep an empty house/flat for years rather than lower their price.

The Chinese way (and a lot of the empty condo owners are indeed Chinese).

Investing at (effectively) negative interest rates does seem a strange thing to do.

On 11/3/2025 at 11:32 AM, bkk6060 said:

Nice to hear the truth.  Prices are way too high compared to the incomes in Bangkok.  And, the accessibility to look at properties for sale or rent is limited as real estate agents seem like major unprofessional flakes never returning messages are not showing up if you can even get an appointment. 

Exactly. There's huge inefficiency where different agents will show you different units or even the same units at different prices. If there was a unified system where all agents would have access to all available units, prices would come down to reality.

 

And no doubt about it: the agents encourage owners to list at unrealistic high prices - the higher the price the higher the commission. Less work, more money for them (less money and more work for the owner). And of course many agents won't work with owners who list at lower prices due to lower commission.

1 minute ago, mfd101 said:

Investing at (effectively) negative interest rates does seem a strange thing to do.

Mostly just to avoid Chinese capital controls and diversify out of China. Some is money laundering but probably not most. Either way it isn't good for the rental market in the host countries (Thailand, Japan, Singapore, etc.)

2 minutes ago, PingRoundTheWorld said:

Exactly. There's huge inefficiency where different agents will show you different units or even the same units at different prices. If there was a unified system where all agents would have access to all available units, prices would come down to reality.

 

And no doubt about it: the agents encourage owners to list at unrealistic high prices - the higher the price the higher the commission. Less work, more money for them (less money and more work for the owner). And of course many agents won't work with owners who list at lower prices due to lower commission.

But there's also common trick among agents everywhere: first estimate a property at a high price, and sign a contract with the seller with a commission calculated as a percentage, but stated only as an amount in the contract. If the price sold is lower, the amount of the commission remains the same.

On 11/3/2025 at 11:27 AM, Badbanker said:

I have looked at houses to buy and the prices being asked are about 30% above market value!  No one wants to really sell!  In the past past 3 years I have seen landed houses prices in the lower Sukumvit area before Onnut that are stupid like their owners!  

Ladprao prices are very expensive

Thai (particularly Bangkok) real estate always seems to defy logic... saturated, and increasingly overpriced (even rental prices), but new building continues unabated. 

8 hours ago, RandolphGB said:

 

People who can, buy, people who can't, tell everyone else not to.

 

Translation. Imma bagholder 

Yes

On 11/3/2025 at 8:44 AM, webfact said:

Picture courtesy of Thai Rath

 

A staggering 1.64 million homes across Thailand lie empty, creating a huge economic waste valued at 3.45 trillion baht. This figure nearly equals the nation’s yearly budget, according to a Thai Real Estate Research and Valuation Centre (AREA) survey. The "ghost housing" crisis is most severe in Bangkok, with more than 730,000 vacant units largely due to aggressive market speculation.

 

The issue is particularly acute in the condominium market, where the vacancy rate stands at a significant 24.8%. Condominiums make up 58% of all empty homes in Bangkok, with low-cost units especially vulnerable. Condos priced under 500,000 baht have a 21.1% vacancy rate, often leading to quick deterioration due to insufficient maintenance fee collection.

 

Detached houses and townhouses have lower vacancy rates, but the overall excess in housing stock is causing instability. Experts caution that rampant speculation complicates the sale of new developments and may threaten the financial stability of lending institutions. The AREA report estimates the value of these vacant homes at 3.45 trillion baht, a clear economic waste if not properly utilised.

 

Currently, Thai law lacks strong penalties for property owners keeping units vacant. The report proposes a Land and Building Tax to specifically target unoccupied homes as a solution. Such a tax could encourage sales and rentals, increase housing affordability, and stimulate the economy by getting properties back into use, reported The Nation.

 

Bangkok (730,000 units) and the rest of Thailand (900,000 units) share nearly equal numbers of unoccupied homes. Without policy intervention, this vast reserve of idle assets will continue hampering Thailand’s economic potential.

 

Key Takeaways:

 

• Thailand has 1.64 million empty homes valued at 3.45 trillion baht.
• Condominiums in Bangkok have the highest vacancy rates due to speculation.
• A proposed tax on vacant homes could prompt sales and boost the economy.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from The Nation 2025-11-03

 

 

And than, the Thai government in their infinite wisdom has gone and stopped foreign ownership of properties where many Chinese and other nationality who were good buyers of Thai properties are now all prohibited from owing Thai properties as if there's such shortage of those as the article says, they went and throw the baby with the bath water in the zealous silly act to live all those properties to poor Thais buy, Way to go Thailand.

11 hours ago, RandolphGB said:

 

People who can, buy, people who can't, tell everyone else not to.

Any member seen any recent comment of the dozen of large  houses being built on moutain areas utside of Chiang Mai city to be given free to dozens of retired judges?