Update on the Chiang Mai property market

[roger1999]

Can be found here:

http://www.property-report.com/special-report-time-for-chiang-mai-31798

Are they really asking for 2.5m baht for a 40 m2 studio at the new condo going up on Nimman Soi 6?

[beau thai]

Same size advertised on 19th floor of Riverside Condo for 5m-now there's optimism!!

[anto]

Condos costing much more in Chiang Mai than Pattaya where land is much more expensive .!!!I I fail to understand it .

[Rinrada]

Theres some new condos going up on the 2nd "ling load" going for @ 900,000 Bt if you don't mind being slightly outside the farang safety zone.

On the corner of 1317 and direction of Global/Hang Dong.

Lots of new coffee shops,7-11s,restaurants springing up and also handy for the "Prom"

[Mapguy]

Bubble!

[mccw]

Early days I think. Just wait till the Chinese get in to buying retirement properties.

[beau thai]

Plenty of steam left in this market yet in my view- still relatively cheap for many Japanese,Koreans and Chinese who hate their very cold winters. Even some farang can afford to buy...!

[elektrified]

What a load of BS that article is, written by sellers in C.M. who have an agenda.

[noise]

t if you don't mind being slightly outside the farang safety zone.

What is a farang safety zone?

[orang37]

What is a farang safety zone?

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Noise,

A "farang safety zone" is a set of psychically calcified persistent mental delusions that one is;

1. safe in Thailand from accident, assault, theft, homicide, fraud.

2. protected by almost astronomical odds (or divine favor) from being the tragic victim of the sad fates of many other farangs.

3. in a land of smiling, non-violent, Buddhist people who never take offense, personally, from egregious behavior on the part of farangs that insults their persons, their culture, their religion, etc. who are "easy-going," and accepting of everyone and any behavior.

4. that one is in a country where the Police are your friends who are always available to help you with any misunderstanding that may arise in personal life, or business.

The amount of effort the average farang has to exert to maintain the integrity of their "farang safety net" is, often, inversely proportional to the number of years they have been here, although frequent use of alcohol and/or drugs may lessen the burden for some.

For many farangs the "farang safety net" can be strengthened by developing exaggerated grandiosity. Awarding oneself (or purchasing on-line) a fake Ph.D., or other degree, may be useful props. Posing as a wildly-successful something-or-other back in one's home country when, in fact, one was a miserable second-rate failure, is also found beneficial by some.

For many farangs, talking with other farangs about their Thai friends, but never actually having any, is, for unknown reasons (research to be done), often correlated with a strong "farang safety net:" of course "correlation does not imply causality."

~o:37;

[Jose]

What is a farang safety zone?

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Noise,

A "farang safety zone" is a set of psychically calcified persistent mental delusions that one is;

1. safe in Thailand from accident, assault, theft, homicide, fraud.

2. protected by almost astronomical odds (or divine favor) from being the tragic victim of the sad fates of many other farangs.

3. in a land of smiling, non-violent, Buddhist people who never take offense, personally, from egregious behavior on the part of farangs that insults their persons, their culture, their religion, etc. who are "easy-going," and accepting of everyone and any behavior.

4. that one is in a country where the Police are your friends who are always available to help you with any misunderstanding that may arise in personal life, or business.

The amount of effort the average farang has to exert to maintain the integrity of their "farang safety net" is, often, inversely proportional to the number of years they have been here, although frequent use of alcohol and/or drugs may lessen the burden for some.

For many farangs the "farang safety net" can be strengthened by developing exaggerated grandiosity. Awarding oneself (or purchasing on-line) a fake Ph.D., or other degree, may be useful props. Posing as a wildly-successful something-or-other back in one's home country when, in fact, one was a miserable second-rate failure, is also found beneficial by some.

For many farangs, talking with other farangs about their Thai friends, but never actually having any, is, for unknown reasons (research to be done), often correlated with a strong "farang safety net:" of course "correlation does not imply causality."

~o:37;

+1

So, what you are saying is, that the "farang safety zone" is a state of mind...?

[roger1999]

I'm no expert on CM real estate, and the article may be bias, but I was astonished to see the 2.5 m baht figure for the studio condo. I had no idea prices were that high in the Nimman area.

[heybruce]

I'm no expert on CM real estate, and the article may be bias, but I was astonished to see the 2.5 m baht figure for the studio condo. I had no idea prices were that high in the Nimman area.

Asking prices for new condos strike me as ridiculous. I don't know if these prices are caused by developers and speculators shooting for the moon on profits, or if the prices reflect a Thai bias for new construction over old. Either way, if I were in the market for a condo (I'm not) I'd be looking into used condos, not new. A used condo bought at a fraction of the price of a new one, combined with a few hundred thousand baht in refurbishment, would be a much better deal.

[hellodolly]

I'm no expert on CM real estate, and the article may be bias, but I was astonished to see the 2.5 m baht figure for the studio condo. I had no idea prices were that high in the Nimman area.

Asking prices for new condos strike me as ridiculous. I don't know if these prices are caused by developers and speculators shooting for the moon on profits, or if the prices reflect a Thai bias for new construction over old. Either way, if I were in the market for a condo (I'm not) I'd be looking into used condos, not new. A used condo bought at a fraction of the price of a new one, combined with a few hundred thousand baht in refurbishment, would be a much better deal.

I think the article was paid for by developers. Of course it was going to be one sided.

[beau thai]

I'm no expert on CM real estate, and the article may be bias, but I was astonished to see the 2.5 m baht figure for the studio condo. I had no idea prices were that high in the Nimman area.

Asking prices for new condos strike me as ridiculous. I don't know if these prices are caused by developers and speculators shooting for the moon on profits, or if the prices reflect a Thai bias for new construction over old. Either way, if I were in the market for a condo (I'm not) I'd be looking into used condos, not new. A used condo bought at a fraction of the price of a new one, combined with a few hundred thousand baht in refurbishment, would be a much better deal.

I agree, as any new build is second hand as soon as you move in-and some people make them look very old very quickly.

Older buildings often have better construction quality, almost always have more space, and a condo can be renovated to one's own spec quite cheaply here-but there does seem to be an appetite for high cost new condo's among many people.

[orang37]

So, what you are saying is, that the "farang safety zone" is a state of mind...?

Perhaps more a Disneyland within a state of mind in which garbage collection services have been permanently discontinued.

~o:37;

[maichai40]

I'm no expert on CM real estate, and the article may be bias, but I was astonished to see the 2.5 m baht figure for the studio condo. I had no idea prices were that high in the Nimman area.

If it is a new condo is really cheap!!

Chang Klan rd, new condo not even start to build, ready in 3 years, promotion price: 46 sqm 3.7m!!! And is a low floor!!!

The seller said company (a very famous one here in CM) will adjust price (up) at least 2-3 times during construction....

[circusman]

A seller can ask any price he/she wants. The trick is to actually get it....

[beau thai]

A seller can ask any price he/she wants. The trick is to actually get it....

Agree - and they will tell you they have already pre-sold 60% so you had better rush. That's before they have sold any....

Seem to work on the principle that there is one born every minute.

[heybruce]

Here's a pertinent article from today's TV:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/679467-thailands-bubble-economy-is-heading-for-a-1997-style-crash/?utm_source=newsletter-20131105-1508&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news

Or you can go straight to the Forbes article it is based on:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jessecolombo/2013/11/04/thailands-bubble-economy-is-heading-for-a-1997-style-crash/

Forbes discusses the property bubble near the end of the second page. Of course they can't say when the bubble will burst, and bubbles are so much fun while they are still inflating.

Edited November 5, 2013 by heybruce