Property buyers from the emerging markets of India and China could become the new superpowers of Pattaya property, according to a new report from Colliers International Thailand.
In its Pattaya City Condominium Report 1H 2012, the real estate agency also noted that Thai buyers have been evident in all sectors of the property market in the Gulf of Thailand city. The proportion of Thai and foreign buyers is now roughly equal, it revealed.
“For many years the majority of the foreign owned local development companies struggled to sell their 51 percent Thai requirement, however there is now a shift in as much as many Thai developers coming to Pattaya sell well to the Thai market and do not come close to filling their foreign ownership quota,” the report said.
Commenting further on local demand, it said: “The Thai market is particularly brand conscious and tends to follow well-known names such as LPN, Q House, Major Developments and other big names such as Sansiri and Supalai, who we believe will soon enter the marketplace. Other lesser known local developers have discovered the attraction of adding a brand name hotel component to their project which adds prestige, desirability and in turn sales to both Thais and foreigners are encouraging.”
Looking at overseas interest, the report said: “The Russian market continued its resilience during the first half of the year and it appears that they’re less affected by global economic problems than other nations. Europeans, British and American buyers have not shown such demand as in previous years however buyers from Australia have also been notable throughout early 2012 due to preferable exchange rates.”
Property buying activity in Pattaya has been frenetic. “During the early part of the year we witnessed a wide selection of condominiums enter the market and were astounded by the massive success of many and the incredible take up rates in most areas,” said the report.
“Certain projects have been almost sold out as soon as they were launched, others took several months to reach 50 percent to 70 percent sold out, however the overall results are very encouraging for the market in general and there seems to be no stopping the immense popularity that Pattaya holds for both investors and end users.”
In summary the report noted: “The condominium market in Pattaya has remained robust over the last six months following the solid performance of 2011. Jomtien is the most popular area for many foreign and Thai buyers looking to buy a second home in close proximity to the beach at an affordable price. Most of the projects launched during the first six months of 2012 and in the coming months are focusing on the mid to low end of the market.”
In a word of warning, Colliers cautioned that Jomtien in particular runs the risk of oversupply to investors looking for strong yields and high capital appreciation, but it concluded by predicting that take-up rates would be significantly higher in the second half of 2012 than during the first six months of the year.
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