Rental prices for Bangkok-based expatriates will continue to rise despite the ongoing political situation in Thailand.
Speaking exclusively to DDproperty.com, James Pitchon – Executive Director for CBRE Thailand, noted that expatriate numbers in Bangkok have been rising.
He said: “Most expatriates want to live in a limited number of areas including Sukhumvit, Lumpini and the northern end of Sathorn. There have been very few new apartment developments (single ownership) built, and most of the new condominium (multi-ownership) supply has been one-bedroom units.”
Pitchon revealed that his company’s residential leasing team has seen the majority of expatriate tenants want two- or three-bedroom units.
“Effectively this means that a rising number of expatriates are chasing a limited supply of two- and three-bedroom units.
“Many units in older condominiums have not been refurbished and are not attractive, so the supply of attractive two- and three-bedroom units may in fact be shrinking.”
Pitchon added that this will mean that residential rents will start to rise in Bangkok for about the first time in 20 years – in stark contrast to many people’s expectations that prices will dip.
He noted that so far there has been no impact from the political crisis on the expatriate property rental market because new or replacement expatriate employees are still taking up positions in Bangkok.
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru Group, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email andrew@propertyguru.com.sg
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