Pattaya Property Up Down Or Sideways

[DD66]

What may have confised your correspondent is that there are several houses on that estate, which have never been occupied.Some of us would like to buy them, but if you have been in Thailand for long, you will understand the problem. When Thai people borrow money from a bank, or anyone else for that matter, it normally comes as a shock to them , to find out they have to pay the loan back. The empty premises are there because no one knows who owns them, maybe because they have died, got lost, disappeared, be in jail etc. I echo the advice that no one should buy thin air. The great advantage with second hand houses is that they are THERE, for sure. Enquiries will establish that water supplies work, drainage works, and in general they are a safer bet. With regard to the overall market, I think that the elections will produce a government that will clarify the situation regarding falang owning land, and nominee shareholders. The Democrats have promised to repeal this recent idiocy, and falangs should do all they can to persuade their girl friends and families to vote Democrat, as this party is the most vocal in that respect. Many years on this earth have persuaded me that bubbles burst, but in this case we have an unknown. If you look at what the Europeans did, especially the Brits, to open up the French Riviera, Algarve, Costa Brava etc, the prosperous Europeans are gradually being replaced by Russians and Chinese, in terms of available capital. Whether this will transmit itself into purchasing property here is the unknown. If you live in Novosibirsk in minus 40C, the temptation must be fairly great, but whether the desire comes to fruition remains to be seen. The building going on in Siam Country Club Road, leads me to wonder how long it will take to drive from one of those estates to Sukhumvit....not far short of an hour, I would imagine, once the shop houses are occupied. In general, we are seeing overkill on a large scale. Think VERY hard before buying some of these new developments.

[Mobi]

There's also got to be element of "location, Location..."

I bet any house with beach front access will have no problems finding a buyer, and similarly, property lakeside at Mabprachan seems to be doing pretty well. The other day I enquired from the Thai owner about a couple of rai, lakeside, and he wanted 5.3 million Baht per rai. The lake area is developing so fast that I bet he gets it.

But when you look at all these myriad, unattractive estates off Siam Country Club Road, and Nern Plub Warn Road etc, it doesn't surprise me that they are not shifting them. I think those roads are a horrible, traffic infested mess and I can't imagine a worse place to live in the Pattaya area.

The shake up in the property owning laws, and visa rules are undoubtedly having a major, but relatively short term effect on house sales, but IMHO, these issues will dissipate in the long term, and the housing market will stabilise and probably start to boom again within the next 5 years.

An important milestone will be the completion of the road widening to Bangkok. When that is all finished, it will take little over an hour to drive to the centre of Bangkok, and Pattaya (especially East off the Rayong highway) will become within realistic commuting distance. This will the open up the area to a whole new market of middle/upper class Thais who work/own businesses in Bangkok but seek a better quality of life for their families. They can buy a mansion with a large garden in the Pattaya area for the price of a tiny condo in Bangkok. There are already a lot of Thai commuters living in Bang Saen, and the new roads will extend the distance they can commute.

But for those wishing to offload property in the next year or so will experience considerable problems.

[suiging]

Fully agree with Mobi. There is no housing market to talk of now, selling anything is extremely hard, if not impossible However it is not all doom and gloom, those who can afford to sit out the trough are doing so, those who can not wait are giving up bargains which will be seen as such when the Eastern approaches infra-structure is complete. Try buying a golf membership for Siam Country Club and you will se your competition is the BK upper middle classes who are warming to the area, and when commuting is viable, may well take the plunge.

Hope springs eternal.