There was finally some good news for Bangkok’s condo market which has taken a beating in the past year. The amount of new condo supply launched in Greater Bangkok returned to normal in the 1st quarter, according to research from Colliers International Thailand, who adds this is a sign that developers are confident once again.
The over 10,000 units launched during the early months of 2017 is close to the total launched in the 1st quarter of 2015, says Surachet Kongcheep, Associate Director of Research at Colliers International Thailand.
The number of condo units launched in Greater Bangkok in the 1st quarter increased by 3,00 units when compared to the same period last year. A bulk of the newly launched condo supply was located in outer Bangkok. Developers spent more time this year launching new projects instead of trying to sell completed stock which was their focus in 2016.
“The drop in new condo supply launched in the 1st quarter last year was derived from developers shifting to focus on selling completed condo units to benefit from the government’s property tax incentives, which ran from October 2015 to April 2016,” says Surachet.
Developers also managed to have some success in selling units. Companies used promotions to increase sales in the 1st quarter and ended up achieving a sales rate of 60 per cent. This is an improvement from the 57 per cent recorded in the 4th quarter of 2016 and 55 per cent reached in the 1st quarter of last year.
The housing developers’ sentiment index also rose in 1st quarter of this year after falling for 3 consecutive quarters in 2016, according to the Real Estate Information Center. Meanwhile, Colliers’ SET-listed developer sentiment index was also up, increasing by 1 per cent from last quarter, but confidence in non-listed developers is still lacking.
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