Property Developers Eye Foreign Buyers

[george]

Developers eye foreign buyers

BANGKOK: -- Foreigners will continue being a driver of the property sector in the second half this year, ac-cording to a property-fair organiser.

With that in mind, TCM Enterprise Co Ltd, which is holding the second Thailand Inter-national Investment Expo 2005 from September 23-25 on the 45th floor of Central World, will invite foreign buyers to join the event. Foreigners have showed an increasing interest in Thailand’s property market due to its attractive prices and high-quality developments.

The event will target foreign-ers living in Thailand and inves-tors in nearby destinations like Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia.

The confab comes on the heels of the first Thailand International Investment Expo 2005, held in Singapore in January.

Khunying Chinda Charung-chareonvejj, chairman of TCM Enterprise, said developers sold Bt100 million worth of properties at the Singaporean meeting.

Investors who visited the event in Singapore told TCM what kind of properties they were most interested in, so the company decided to hold a second fair in Thailand next month, Chinda said.

The company expects at least 1,000 visitors a day at the fair and sales of at least Bt100 million.

Foreigners are most interested in buying luxury condominiums in vacation areas like Pattaya, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Hua Hin, according to Nigel Cornick, chief executive of Raimon Land Plc, one of the exhibitors at the expo.

In Bangkok, they are interested in buying condominiums located close to mass-transit systems, he said.

Raimon Land expects to sell three units priced between Bt5 million and Bt10 million each during the sale, he said, adding that it expects more sales in the future from investors whose interest is piqued at the event.

Assoc Prof Manop Bongsadadt, chairman of the Federation of International for Real Estate in Thailand, said the property sector had been slowing due to the economic downturn and rising interest rates.

Events targeting foreigners could curb the drop in sales, he said.

“Thailand International Investment Expo 2005 will help boost property sales in the second half of this year by focusing on foreign investors who have the purchasing power to buy property, especially luxury condominiums,” he said.

--The Nation 2005-08-24