While floods in Bangkok damaged cars and property at a few condo projects around the Sukhumvit area, this isn’t expected to impact the market as a whole, local media reports. Even with more flooding expected, only a few building types are likely to be affected.
Some low-rise condos in flood zones that have underground parking spaces and poor property management could have some trouble attracting buyers in the future. The historic rainfall experienced last weekend caused the flooding, not poor city planning or other issues.
“With good property management, a condo should not face flooding from heavy rains. A good juristic person at a condom project should always prepare for floods with water pump check-ups and maintenance,” says Surachet Kongcheep, Colliers International Thailand Associate Director of Research, to the Bangkok Post.
The few condo projects damaged by flooding recently will have trouble finding buyers in the next few years, but the damage, both physical and in terms of reputation, isn’t likely to be long term. This is especially true for condos in prime locations.
“People will forget in the next year or two that condos were damaged by the floods, just like they did during the 2011 floods. Bang Yai, one of the locations greatly hit by the 2011 floods, is now one of the locations where people are looking for a housing unit,” says Surachet.
There are also lessons to be learned from the recent flooding. These include the fact that developers building low-rise condos should avoid underground car parks, which are easily flooded. Condo developments should also double check windows to ensure there is no leakage when heavy winds are present.
“To prevent future floods caused by poor water drainage systems, there should be a review of regulations in environmental impact assessments to consider a suitable number of projects, even small-scale ones like low-rise condos on small sois or roads less than 10 metres wide,” says Surachet.
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