Property Prices In Huah Hin

[bingobongo]

Don't expect Americans to be coming to Hua Hin in droves to purchase real estate. I suppose hundreds or thousands of Americans of retirement age know that I retired in Thailand, and not a one of them has ever asked me about settling here. Educated folks in the USA spend virtually no time even mentioning the existence of Thailand.

Nobody knows how many farang are in Thailand, let alone in Hua Hin. Nobody ever has come to my door counting long noses or blond hair. The largest group of farang I recall bumping into in HHin were what my late mother would have called "Scandahoovians."

Educated folks in Usa?? Bald statement. I wonder if they virtually spend time mensioning the existence of ANYTHING outside Usa.

Lets go back to landprices: what area is most prisworth?

i suggest you learn how to spell before you criticize others

[nell453]

Read all the above with interest was in hua hin in july and bought a few property pamphlets back with me.Compared to UK prices look good so I have been trying to do some research this 30 + 30 + 30 deal didnt look to bad but as someone else has mentioned your at the mercy of the leaseholder when it comes to renewal

As you can own apartments whats the resale market like on these ? some of them look a bit expensive to start with.Also wheres a good place to rent a house(short term 1 mth) the internet is full of places but they all seem to me to be pricey getting towards western tourist prices.Any comments welcome cheers

[visionary]

I can't help being skeptical about house prices quoted in millions. From what I have read tradesmen earn 200 to 300 daily, construction materials are cheap to come by. Based upon labor and material costs I think a basic serviced home could be built and sold profitably for as little as 400,000. Perhaps the glut reflects that the 3000 vendors were either suckered or are seeking suckers.

When the time comes for me to buy I will probably recruit the tradesmen to custom build. I'd rather enrich workers than speculators any day.

[johnnyk]

Yes, a house can be built for 400K.

My gf did it...

in Lopburi 160km north of BKK in a tiny mooban well away from main roads and on land her family gave her.

Lopburi is not HuaHin and you have no family to give you the land.

And if you think you can get it built for Thai prices on your own, well......

Edited September 19, 2007 by johnnyk

[visionary]

Yes, a house can be built for 400K.

My gf did it...

in Lopburi 160km north of BKK in a tiny mooban well away from main roads and on land her family gave her.

Lopburi is not HuaHin and you have no family to give you the land.

And if you think you can get it built for Thai prices on your own, well......

This post leads to the next question. What is the cost of land ? Obviously land in a lily white enclave surrounded by mansions will be high. But what is the value of land in a lower middle class community ? Given that most Thai workers do not live under tarps in ditches , housing must be affordable to them or newspapers would be as filled with stories of the wretched urban homeless as they are in America. Land must be cheap somewhere or factory workers would all be homeless.

[PeaceBlondie]

Yes, a house can be built for 400K.

My gf did it...

in Lopburi 160km north of BKK in a tiny mooban well away from main roads and on land her family gave her.

Lopburi is not HuaHin and you have no family to give you the land.

And if you think you can get it built for Thai prices on your own, well......

This post leads to the next question. What is the cost of land ? Obviously land in a lily white enclave surrounded by mansions will be high. But what is the value of land in a lower middle class community ? Given that most Thai workers do not live under tarps in ditches , housing must be affordable to them or newspapers would be as filled with stories of the wretched urban homeless as they are in America. Land must be cheap somewhere or factory workers would all be homeless.

visionary, I suspect your thinking is connecting things that are irrelevant to each other. The wages of construction workers (who may be illegal Burmese), the very modest homes of working class Thais with 6 occupants; the multi-million-baht homes of the 'idle rich' who buy nice properties in Hua Hin.

Supposedly, foreigners can't buy land. Land is Thai, Thailish. If you're married to a Thai citizen, she can own the land, and you may as well just give her the home. To my thinking, that's precisely why two foreigners face 30+30+30 problems trying to own a home in Thailand. But, I don't know much.

[Dougal]

Yes, a house can be built for 400K.

My gf did it...

in Lopburi 160km north of BKK in a tiny mooban well away from main roads and on land her family gave her.

Lopburi is not HuaHin and you have no family to give you the land.

And if you think you can get it built for Thai prices on your own, well......

This post leads to the next question. What is the cost of land ? Obviously land in a lily white enclave surrounded by mansions will be high. But what is the value of land in a lower middle class community ? Given that most Thai workers do not live under tarps in ditches , housing must be affordable to them or newspapers would be as filled with stories of the wretched urban homeless as they are in America. Land must be cheap somewhere or factory workers would all be homeless.

There are plenty of Thai workers living under tarpaulins and even more living in tin shacks. They are itinerant workers and have no land. When the current project is finished they will simply move on.

The long term workers often live in what you would probably describe as a garage. They will probably be renting at a rate of between 2k to 3k a month. One room apartments in a newish block of flats are available for 3k a month. 6k will get you a pretty comfortable and spacious room. But of course you will never own that.

Buying a plot of land in an area you might actually want to live in and then building a reaonable house with floor tiles that don't turn into an ice rink when they are wet, a kitchen with 'proper' appliances and bedrooms with enough room to swing a cat, is a very different prospect. Figures like 400k, and I think someone threw in a couple of hundred thousand earlier in the thread, simply show that the writers have no grip on the realities of the situation and are living in cloud cukooland.

[johnnyk]

I'm the one who said 400K.

I'm not in cloud cuckoo land, I've spent time in the house.

Its perfectly liveable even for a falang and does not match your description at all.

Perhaps you should get out of the falang ghettoes a bit more, chief.

[migrant]

I think the key to the pricing has been metioned, Thai vs Falang price.

We toured some properties when in Hua Hin/ Cha Am in August with my brother in law (Thai, Cha Am resident, family from nearby Tha Yang).

He knows construction, has built a nice home for his family, and knows many contractors. His estimate to build one of the larger, modern, western homes was in the range of 1,000,000. Smaller homes, or less western homes, much cheaper.

Land he also knows has a Thai/Falang price differential, which is considerable.

Granted he does not build homes for a living, but is quite a smart fellow, and is pretty well tied in to local tradesmen.

[tommyj4]

4 bed 3 bath house on 1,000 metres land 400 metres from the beach. Quality fittings, granite etc, price just under 2 milliion. A developer would ask about 7 million for that.... thats where the money goes.

[monkeytunes]

Ive just got back home from a trip to HH, whilst I was there I wanted to checkout property/prices and what was available. I couldnt believe how many new housing projects there are, the last time I was in HH was about year and a half ago, there were quite alot then but so many know, but Ive got to say the prices for property when buying off plan certainly seems to have gone up quite abit.

Theres also a huge number of resales, some reasonably priced but Ive got to say some so clearly overpriced. I saw a 3 bedroom house with pool, on 100 s/wah, niceley done but they wanted 15 Mill, I had to pick myself of the floor, I thought they were going to say 6 mill or something near that. Are sellers really getting those sort of prices or are they just chancing there luck?

[Ollie]

Ive just got back home from a trip to HH, whilst I was there I wanted to checkout property/prices and what was available. I couldnt believe how many new housing projects there are, the last time I was in HH was about year and a half ago, there were quite alot then but so many know, but Ive got to say the prices for property when buying off plan certainly seems to have gone up quite abit.

Theres also a huge number of resales, some reasonably priced but Ive got to say some so clearly overpriced. I saw a 3 bedroom house with pool, on 100 s/wah, niceley done but they wanted 15 Mill, I had to pick myself of the floor, I thought they were going to say 6 mill or something near that. Are sellers really getting those sort of prices or are they just chancing there luck?

No. Most react in the way you did. I've seen the same, possibly the actual same, with the same reaction.

[monkeytunes]

one thing I did mean to say, there seems to be a huge amount of real estate agents that have opened in the last year or so, does this mean theres plenty of property selling, or are they just scratching a living in the hope things will improve?

Are there agents closing down as a result of the market, any local HH ers noticed any closures?

[TJ xpat]

Property prices in Hua Hin, are prices going up, are properties selling?

Good topic, it is a shame the replies’ do not keep to the subject.

Hua Hin over the last ten years has seen a dramatic increase in property prices, mainly brought on by the expatriate coming to this area of Thailand.

It is the same old story, everybody wants to make money on their investment but this has now got out of hand and the expatriates are pushing this to extremes.

Land in the centre of Hua Hin ten years ago used to be 500,000 Baht for one Rai (1,600 sqm) now you are looking at 10,000,000 Baht, the problem now is supply and demand.

Yes I feel sorry for the Thai people on low wages; we farlangs have now forced them out of the housing market in the Hua Hin town area.

But saying this they have also jumped on the land selling wagon as they have made a killing selling land to us and forcing up prices.

Land price + Build price + 40% this is what a building companies in the UK charge as a thumb of rule but they build the properties first and use their money to do this here in Thailand is different, the developers use your money to build the property, the only outlay they have is buying the land.

Land costs, now in Hua Hin is expensive, just for a plot in the town area if you can find it of 400 sqm would cost you around 1,000,000 Baht but if you are thinking of buying land and having a custom property built you need to go out of the town area at least 7/10 km before you can get land at a realistic price, the same goes for Cha-am, a few years ago I bought 5 Rai of land north of Cha-am for 450,000 Baht, this then was cheap, now if I wanted to sell it on would cost over 2,000,000 Baht.

Building costs and prices, 400,000 Baht for a small property as “Johnnyk” says is possible built in an ex expatriate area where labor costs that have not been affected by the falange influence. But an expatriate would not be happy with the quality of the finish, for this you get cheap sanity ware, no European kitchen, low grade ceramic floor tiles and the property built directly on the ground instead elevated of the ground.

Yes property prices in Hua Hin and Cha-am are high but there are some good priced properties about and the construction is good in some cases, working out what is good value, 1: where is the property located, 2: the size of the land, 3: the living area of the property, 4: the standard of the build, 5: what is included within the price. When viewing a property look and see if it is built off the ground as this is important, ask the developer or agent selling the property how it is constructed, the problem here is most selling agents will not know!!! Use one that has been in the business for a long time and not just started over the past three years or so. A good one will give you good advice and keep within your budget, their service is free and worth using as in some cases can even save you money.

Buying the property, this 30+30+30 year lease, “well’” there are so many problems with this I myself would not recommend anyone even contemplating this option unless they only want the property for the first 30 years, so if you are buying a property to be handed down to the family on your death then think again. The Thai company way if set up properly is still by far the safest way of owning a property in Thailand.

If you want advice or a good real estate agent mail me, now I await the flack !!!!

[johnnyk]

Property prices in Hua Hin, are prices going up, are properties selling?

Good topic, it is a shame the replies’ do not keep to the subject.

Hua Hin over the last ten years has seen a dramatic increase in property prices, mainly brought on by the expatriate coming to this area of Thailand.

It is the same old story, everybody wants to make money on their investment but this has now got out of hand and the expatriates are pushing this to extremes.

Land in the centre of Hua Hin ten years ago used to be 500,000 Baht for one Rai (1,600 sqm) now you are looking at 10,000,000 Baht, the problem now is supply and demand.

Yes I feel sorry for the Thai people on low wages; we farlangs have now forced them out of the housing market in the Hua Hin town area.

But saying this they have also jumped on the land selling wagon as they have made a killing selling land to us and forcing up prices.

Land price + Build price + 40% this is what a building companies in the UK charge as a thumb of rule but they build the properties first and use their money to do this here in Thailand is different, the developers use your money to build the property, the only outlay they have is buying the land.

Land costs, now in Hua Hin is expensive, just for a plot in the town area if you can find it of 400 sqm would cost you around 1,000,000 Baht but if you are thinking of buying land and having a custom property built you need to go out of the town area at least 7/10 km before you can get land at a realistic price, the same goes for Cha-am, a few years ago I bought 5 Rai of land north of Cha-am for 450,000 Baht, this then was cheap, now if I wanted to sell it on would cost over 2,000,000 Baht.

Building costs and prices, 400,000 Baht for a small property as “Johnnyk” says is possible built in an ex expatriate area where labor costs that have not been affected by the falange influence. But an expatriate would not be happy with the quality of the finish, for this you get cheap sanity ware, no European kitchen, low grade ceramic floor tiles and the property built directly on the ground instead elevated of the ground.

Yes property prices in Hua Hin and Cha-am are high but there are some good priced properties about and the construction is good in some cases, working out what is good value, 1: where is the property located, 2: the size of the land, 3: the living area of the property, 4: the standard of the build, 5: what is included within the price. When viewing a property look and see if it is built off the ground as this is important, ask the developer or agent selling the property how it is constructed, the problem here is most selling agents will not know!!! Use one that has been in the business for a long time and not just started over the past three years or so. A good one will give you good advice and keep within your budget, their service is free and worth using as in some cases can even save you money.

Buying the property, this 30+30+30 year lease, “well’” there are so many problems with this I myself would not recommend anyone even contemplating this option unless they only want the property for the first 30 years, so if you are buying a property to be handed down to the family on your death then think again. The Thai company way if set up properly is still by far the safest way of owning a property in Thailand.

If you want advice or a good real estate agent mail me, now I await the flack !!!!

TJExpat,

Yes, a basic house quite liveable for 400K. But, choice of finish is always an option and most houses I've seen are built and sold as a shell with the rest up to the buyer.

The house I referred to is certainly basic and would need a kitchen but that can be done very cheaply with cement blocks, tiles, sink, taps and gas ring(s). A falang toilet would be nice but that too is very cheap to buy and install. I'm not fussy on baby blue floor tiles but that's personal taste and something to be decided at the time of contruction. Even decent floor tiles aren't expensive. What I have mentioned here could certainly be done for 30K baht or less.

The key of course is land cost and in this case the 400K is purely for house, an instance where being Thai and building in your own mooban is advantageous. However, a poster named Dougal got on his horse and spouted, "Buying a plot of land in an area you might actually want to live in and then building a reaonable house with floor tiles that don't turn into an ice rink when they are wet, a kitchen with 'proper' appliances and bedrooms with enough room to swing a cat, is a very different prospect. Figures like 400k, and I think someone threw in a couple of hundred thousand earlier in the thread, simply show that the writers have no grip on the realities of the situation and are living in cloud cukooland (sic)."

Well, the discussion was about house cost not house and land but, as said, floor tiles are a matter of choice, kitchen appliances are extra everywhere in the world (they are appliances and a house is a house) and bedroom size is also a personal choice that does not affect building cost merely specifying the walls to be in different places.

Yes, land prices have rocketed but over a 10-year period and its samesame all over the world in any area deemed desirable by enough people.

[tommyj4]

700k gets a great place built with granite, western toilets, hot shower & water. Either developers are paying too much for materials & being ripped off or they are greedy and want 300% returns, either way, build yourselfe. Enjoy the experience & get someting you really want without lining someone elses pockets.

[splitlid]

700k gets a great place built with granite, western toilets, hot shower & water. Either developers are paying too much for materials & being ripped off or they are greedy and want 300% returns, either way, build yourselfe. Enjoy the experience & get someting you really want without lining someone elses pockets.

hi tommy.

can you supply us with some photos of these great places for 700k. would be interesting to see them.

[xyborg]

<br />

Anything priced sensibly will sell. Just dont go paying stupid money for something that cost a few hundred thousand Baht to build.....Land price + build cost + 40% is how to correctly value a property....2-3 million for a 3 bed bath house on half rai close to the center is about right.....

<br /><br />Pity Hua Hin is on the wrong side of everything. Now even more pronounced with the new airport. <br /><br />Hua Hin may like that the industry is concentrating at the eastern seaboard, but so are the jobs and people. And the money they earn and spend.<br /><br />With five (yes, <b>FIVE</b>) hours drive from BKK, under constant fear I might kill a motorbiker along the way, it's losing to the place so inferior when it comes to the feeling of a resort - to Pattaya and the scraps around it.<br /><br />Poor Hua Hin. It should have stayed the way it was.<br /><br />Hope, one day, but in this century, it gets a swimming pool. Or maybe, a water park. Maybe a hospital, better supermarket and, why not - a school that teaches English.<br /><br />For now, - it's left to the dreams of <b>once in life time</b> package working class holidaymakers from Holland and Sweden to pay what seems cheap to them.<br /><br />I love you Hua Hin. Sorry to see you being raped by the developers and baby boomer retirees.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Blimey 5 hours driving sure your'e not walking???

[johnnyk]

Longest it ever took me was 3 hours 10 min. but there was rain and an accident.

[Macx]

I'm the one who said 400K.

I'm not in cloud cuckoo land, I've spent time in the house.

Its perfectly liveable even for a falang and does not match your description at all.

Perhaps you should get out of the falang ghettoes a bit more, chief.

What Johnnyk said is true and actually not surprising at all. If you get out and about and speak a bit of Thai, you'll see the real prices.

My ex-girlfriend, who worked for major developer, told me some of the 2mil baht houses (very nice) actually cost only around 400K to build. Granted this was in a Thai city, houses for Thais.

A Thai friend of mine built his mother a nice two bedroom bungalow for 200K.

[PeaceBlondie]

Blimey, mate, I've been fighting traffic jams in Hua Hin this week, and it's not yet high season! You can hardly get through on a motorbike, for all the tourists! Lots of fit European birds here, too, amongst their larger-proportioned older sisters. The main customers at the cabaret show last night (the early show, mind you) were little blond youngsters. To be fair, there's no shortage of hugely-proportioned European blokes, either. Cor! I may wake up in Bournemouth tomorrow for all I know.

I see construction is still booming, all the way past Kao Takiab. Even the old Vana Pranee downtown store survives. I don't think it took the taxi driver from Victory Monument much over two hours to get here, and he didn't know what he was doing.

BTW, I couldn't find the minibus queue at Victory Mon. the other morning at 6:15. Do they begin later than that?

[taxexile]

Blimey, mate, I've been fighting traffic jams in Hua Hin this week, and it's not yet high season

very busy this last weekend as it was a thai bank holiday yesterday.

things quieter today.

[PeaceBlondie]

Blimey, mate, I've been fighting traffic jams in Hua Hin this week, and it's not yet high season

very busy this last weekend as it was a thai bank holiday yesterday.

things quieter today.

So I discovered when I went to a bank! Also, it's still October school holidays.

[klikster]

I'm the one who said 400K.

I'm not in cloud cuckoo land, I've spent time in the house.

Its perfectly liveable even for a falang and does not match your description at all.

Perhaps you should get out of the falang ghettoes a bit more, chief.

What Johnnyk said is true and actually not surprising at all. If you get out and about and speak a bit of Thai, you'll see the real prices.

My ex-girlfriend, who worked for major developer, told me some of the 2mil baht houses (very nice) actually cost only around 400K to build. Granted this was in a Thai city, houses for Thais.

A Thai friend of mine built his mother a nice two bedroom bungalow for 200K.

I lived in Ban Krut (PKK) for a number of years. A farang with Thai wife had built a house withing a controlled moo ban. House was nice, extra high ceilings, extra electrical, 2 br + office + pantry, large well-equipped kitchen .. about 200-220 m on 100 tw .. about 500 - 600 m from the road along the beach. He paid "$75,000" for the place.

Ban Krut is pretty small and most local Thais know the good construction types. I needed a base poured for my IP star, so my Thai landlady (who owns 1 small resort and at least 6 other houses in the controlled mooban) recommended a pair of workers. And they were WORKERS! After the job was finished, I talked to one guy .. asked him if he was familiar with the farang's house. He said he had worked on it.

So I asked what it would cost me to build an identical house.

"Include land?"

no, house, electric .. everything except land

"Include all tile, (he made 'decorating motions') insides?"

Just like Mr. Farang's house.

He thought for awhile and said, "Bt 750,000."

I have no doubt whatsoever that he could have and would have done it for that.

[klikster]

The Thai company way if set up properly is still by far the safest way of owning a property in Thailand.

If you want advice or a good real estate agent mail me, now I await the flack !!!!

'nuff said?

[xyborg]

<br />

I'm the one who said 400K.<br />I'm not in cloud cuckoo land, I've spent time in the house.<br />Its perfectly liveable even for a falang and does not match your description at all.<br />Perhaps you should get out of the falang ghettoes a bit more, chief.

<br /><br />What Johnnyk said is true and actually not surprising at all. If you get out and about and speak a bit of Thai, you'll see the real prices. <br /><br />My ex-girlfriend, who worked for major developer, told me some of the 2mil baht houses (very nice) actually cost only around 400K to build. Granted this was in a Thai city, houses for Thais. <br /><br />A Thai friend of mine built his mother a nice two bedroom bungalow for 200K.<br />

<br />I lived in Ban Krut (PKK) for a number of years. A farang with Thai wife had built a house withing a controlled moo ban. House was nice, extra high ceilings, extra electrical, 2 br + office + pantry, large well-equipped kitchen .. about 200-220 m on 100 tw .. about 500 - 600 m from the road along the beach. He paid "$75,000" for the place.<br /><br />Ban Krut is pretty small and most local Thais know the good construction types. I needed a base poured for my IP star, so my Thai landlady (who owns 1 small resort and at least 6 other houses in the controlled mooban) recommended a pair of workers. And they were WORKERS! After the job was finished, I talked to one guy .. asked him if he was familiar with the farang's house. He said he had worked on it.<br /><br />So I asked what it would cost me to build an identical house.<br /><br />"Include land?"<br /><br />no, house, electric .. everything except land<br /><br />"Include all tile, (he made 'decorating motions') insides?"<br /><br />Just like Mr. Farang's house.<br /><br />He thought for awhile and said, "Bt 750,000."<br /><br />I have no doubt whatsoever that he could have and would have done it for that.<br /><br />

<br /><br /><br />

Got his contact details???

[johnnyk]

A bit off topic, but here's an example of upcountry costs.

My GF's house in Lopburi province (the 400K house referred to in a previous post) needed 3 bedroom ceiling fans installed.

The electrician and his two assistants worked 4 hours one day and three the next, much of it in a very hot attic, drilling hole,s installing ceiling supports and pulling wires.

So, about 21 person-hours in all.

Total labour cost was 1200 baht

[klikster]

A bit off topic, but here's an example of upcountry costs.

My GF's house in Lopburi province (the 400K house referred to in a previous post) needed 3 bedroom ceiling fans installed.

The electrician and his two assistants worked 4 hours one day and three the next, much of it in a very hot attic, drilling hole,s installing ceiling supports and pulling wires.

So, about 21 person-hours in all.

Total labour cost was 1200 baht

That sounds similiar to my experience.

I had a number of fans installed in my (older) house .. did it bass-ackwards .. put in wall fans, then realized how much better ceiling fans would be. The electrician had a simple formula .. Panasonic fans, wall switch and wiring .. all grounded .. Bt1,800 each all inclusive.

[klikster]

Got his contact details???

If you are really serious you can PM me and I will give you the former landlady's telephone number.

WARNING: She speaks very little english .. and, btw, was probably the most honest landlord/lady I have ever known anywhere.

I'm also not sure how far the construction guys will travel.

And you will likely get very little information without going down to Ban Krut and talking to them.

[craigt3365]

I spent a week in HH in August looking at property. Agent was indeed a farang with an ex bar girl as a front woman. I was shocked at the prices. 7MM Baht + for a decent 3BR/3 bath house with a pool. And condos were even worse. 7MM Baht + for a 1000 SM condo.

I saw many, many condos that were vacant. Have never been moved into and were over a year old. Agent told me they were owned by Thai's from BKK who had bought 2, 3, 4 or more in the same development. Pure speculation. All resale condos were marked up a fair amount from the original price. I did not make any offers, but felt they would only go down in price a little. Seemed to be hanging on for a "big killing"!!

We decided not to buy as prices are just to crazy, land plots were really small, and traffic was worse than I had expected. But, I still like HH and so does my Thai wife (seems all Thais love HH).

I then spent a week traveling down to Khanom, also looking at various properties (saw some, but only a few). I really liked Ban Krut. Nice place, but not much to do. Also went to Pattaya and looked...lots of stuff for sale up there. Unreal....

One poster made a comment about Florida. He is spot on. I love Thailand, but with prices like that...really makes one think. I know you will make money in Florida on real estate. Sure, it will take a few years to start heading up, but it will. And your investment is really safe. Can't say that about Thailand.

Anyway, just wanted to comment here....great thread...Thanks!

Craig