Special Report: Trend For Urban Property Market

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Special Report: Trend for Urban Property Market

BANGKOK: -- As people increasingly flock to Bangkok, the demand for property and the property market has played a crucial role in driving the economy forward. The trends of behavior and demands of people to buy property have always been a focus due to its large and positive effects to several other businesses in the sector.

Kasikorn Research Center (KResearch) has recently presented their research findings after a survey was conducted from 15 to 21 February 2010 among 600 working people in Bangkok who were interested in purchasing new property. The research aims to study demands of consumers, factors affecting their purchasing decision, and other related influential factors.

Urban consumers were found to have the highest interest in purchasing new houses. Other popular types of residences are condominiums and townhouses respectively. 70.9% of the respondents said they were only interested in purchasing residences that had completed the construction phase from credible companies to ensure that they would not lose any money or face any financial risks.

As the government has decided to extend tax benefits for the property sector to 31 May 2010, KResearch believes that consumers will be at an advantage and will have more time to make decisions as property developers are still competing fiercely amid the fragility of both the global and domestic economic recovery. These tax benefits significantly reduce property rights transfer and mortgage registration fees as well as the special business tax portion of the payment. Some entrepreneurs will be able to launch marketing strategies to seize marketing shares from their competitors during this period.

However, after the end of the tax benefits, KResearch suggests property developers adopt some strategies to reduce production cost in order to gain competitive advantages. These cost reduction strategies may include reducing the size of houses or rooms while maintaining a standard quality with an appropriate price. Entrepreneurs are also advised to make a thorough study on the demands of each market to create their own strengths and uniqueness in both their products and prices since competition is expected to be harsher for some areas where many companies are launching new projects to lure city dwellers.

In conclusion, consumers can prepare to benefit from the fierce competition that will be taking place among urban property developers, especially when tax benefits are being terminated during a fragile economic recovery. This time around, property developers learned an important lesson and were reminded once again, that nothing can be taken for granted.

-- NNT 2010-04-07

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