While in some Bangkok locations, older condos are drawing in more buyers, the price difference between the 2 segments has widened as a whole, experts tell local media outlets. This is because older condos have problems with design and maintenance that are not found at new condo buildings.
“Purchasers who are looking to buy older properties need to understand the overall market, as well as the micro market for properties in different locations. While there has always been a preference for new buildings, especially from Thai purchasers, the price difference between old and new projects are getting considerably more sizeable,” says Ratha Techasopapan, Analyst at CBRE Thailand Research and Consulting, to the Bangkok Post.
There are a couple of issues that older buildings in Bangkok tend to have and these hurt their value. The 1st problem has to do with the design and layout of the units, which were built in a time when developers did not have design expertise they have now.
“Older buildings have older specifications with low ceilings and small windows which can make residents feel claustrophobic. The floor plan often resulted in a lot of wasted space, with large units sectioned off to make more rooms, resulting in the units seeming small even though they were large in terms of square metres,” says Ratha.
The 2nd issue is the fact old condo buildings require more maintenance than new condos which means buyers will need to be willing to spend on things such as renovations if they want their unit to be modern. In some cases, this is not a possibility due to how the project was built.
“Buyers that have the money to invest will generally opt for newer units because they are modern and feature better functionality, more luxurious building design, and the latest innovations in technology. Developers of many new projects also feature branded property management to ensure that buyers are assured of the quality of the building management,” concludes Ratha.
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