With a backlog of condo units building up and more foreign buyers avoiding Pattaya, a number of developers have decided to slow, freeze or even revise their new developments in the city, according to local media outlets. The decision comes after there had been some hope of a turnaround in the renowned party town.
Surachet Kongcheep, associate director for research at property consultant Colliers International Thailand, told the Bangkok Post that 307 condo units were launched in Pattaya in the first half which is the lowest level it has been in years and a significant decline from the number of launches in the second half of 2015.
“This was due to many factors such as the drop in the number of Russian tourists who have been the main buyers in Pattaya’s condo market for the past few years,” Surachet told the newspaper. “Some of the new supply is still waiting to be sold.”
It was noted that 17,000 of the 72,000 condo units launched from 2011 to the first half of this year are still available. The government’s property tax incentives helped bump up the take-up rate in Pattaya to 77 percent during the first half of 2016 before expiring at the end of April.
During the past two years, Chinese buyers have begun to invest in condo units in Pattaya but they have been unable to make up for the dramatically declining number of Russian buyers that were found here during Pattaya’s boom.
Tirachai Pipitsupaphol, managing director of Ocean Property, pointed out that his company still has more than THB1 billion worth of condo units available at Ocean Portofino Condominium in Jomtien Beach. The project was finished a few years ago but sales have been sluggish at best.
“Pattaya’s property market is likely to take several months to return to normal as there are no entertainment activities during the mourning period,” Tirachai noted.
