By Andrew Batt:
Property buyers and owners in Thailand want the government to consider tightening foreign ownership of property in the kingdom.
In its Q1 Sentiment Survey DDproperty.com, a subsidiary of PropertyGuru Group, revealed a growing concerns that demand from foreign buyers is driving prices higher – especially in the condominium sector.
More than half of the 1,503 respondents expressed dissatisfaction regarding the current Thai property market, with 80 percent expecting further price rises during the next six months.
Reflecting negative sentiments on the ground, respondents perceive the government’s efforts in making housing more affordable to be insufficient.
Close to 65 percent oppose relaxing the foreign property buying restrictions with those in the 30-39 age group being the fiercest supporters. In addition, 54 percent feel the government should do more, of which 52 percent express general disappointment over existing initiatives such as the First Home Buyer campaign.
“Thai property buyers anticipate property prices to go up, and hence want the government to step in to manage the pace and ensure that property affordability will remain within their reach,” said Raymond Tan, Managing Director of Added Value Singapore.
“The challenge is to find the correct balance which will entice local Thais to invest locally while continuing to attract foreign property investors”.
Survey findings also highlight the trend of more Thais looking overseas for more affordable options. A third of the respondents are considering buying properties elsewhere, with Laos and Australia being two of the more popular locations where interest lies mostly in houses, condominiums and land (particularly in Laos).
In collaboration with Added Value-Saffron Hill, a Singapore based independent professional research agency, the quarterly survey aims to provide insights into the local property market through the consumers’ perspective and shed light into how property trends affect their property decisions over time.
Conducted since 2010, it was carried out across PropertyGuru Group’s four key target markets of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand attracting 4,062 online respondents aged 21-69 who are influencers or decision makers on property.
Steve Melhuish, CEO of PropertyGuru Group, said, “Insights garnered by the regional PropertyGuru Q1 Property Sentiment Survey reflect market realities in each of our key target markets and have proven to be an invaluable tool to understand the property market.”
Any tightening of foreign property ownership laws in Thailand would likely be against a trend of widening relaxation in advance of the introduction of the Asean Economic Community 2015.
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email andrew@allproperty.com.sg
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