Developers rake in high presales in Q1

By Nikki De Guzman:

Despite the Bank of Thailand’s (BOT) caution over a possible oversupply, listed property developers have seen presales figures improving in Q1, reported The Nation.

For instance, a survey by The Nation revealed that Sansiri saw its presales grow significantly to Bt21 billion, up from Bt16.2 billion in Q4 2012. This figure was driven by strong demand in Bangkok and in other areas. It also brings the developer close to its target of Bt48 billion for the whole of 2013.

“Our presales were high in the first quarter thanks to our business expansion in the provinces, where we had positive feedback from the market such as for our new projects launched in Khon Kaen, Phuket, Hua Hin, Pattaya and Rayong,” said Srettha Thavisin, President of Sansiri.

Sansiri has also launched a new product model that will likely improve presales growth further. Called dCondo Campus, the scheme caters to university destinations. 

“Most of the demand in the market is still real rather than speculative demand, despite the Bank of Thailand concern [about the latter],” added Srettha, noting that speculative demand likely stands at below 10 percent.

Meanwhile, Pruksa Real Estate posted Bt12.3 billion in presales for Q1, a whopping 117 percent improvement from Q1 last year. The firm targets Bt35 billion in presales for 2013.

The company’s Chief Business Officer Prasert Taedullayasatit, noted that around 70 percent of the developer’s presales worth Bt12.3 billion in Q1 was accounted for low-rise detached housing and townhouses while the rest was for condominium projects.

At the same time, LPN Development recorded presales of Bt6.7 billion while Property Perfect raked in Bt3 billion.

Opas Sripayak, Managing Director at LPN Development, noted that Q1 achieved strong results despite the company releasing only three projects during the quarter. 

“Most of our customers are making bookings for units that will be transferred to them after the project is complete. We have only five percent that change the name from that on the booking contract to a different person when transferring project units in the next one or two years. This means 95 percent of our customers constitute real demand, buying to stay [in the property] or for investment,” he added.