Supalai is continuing to diverse its investment plans by making inroads internationally. Australia has been a good market for the developer and Supalai is planning to spend THB500 million in Melbourne this year on real estate developments. The company recorded good sales down under last year on its first three housing projects in the country.
The company believes Melbourne is expanding more quickly than Sydney and has a stronger demand for housing driven by Chinese immigration, president and chairman Prateep Tangmatitham explained.
“Despite an economic slowdown, Australia’s currency is likely to be strong,” he told the Bangkok Post. “Property investment in Australia is also attractive thanks to clear laws and convenient international money transfers.”
Supalai has committed to spending THB878 million on residential development projects in Melbourne. This investment has and will continue to come through a joint venture with a local developer and a foreign partner. The company spent THB500 million in 2014 and 2015 to help it fund three projects in three locations including a development at Balmoral Quay. The first phase of this project saw 13 out of 20 units sold with the total revenue from these sales coming in at over THB30 million.
Supalai’s other two Melbourne projects are the Office Project on the city’s western side and Arena Project in the northeast of the city, the Post added. The developer has witnessed average sales of 24 units worth THB469 million per month at these three projects. This year will see Supalai and its partners develop the Fyansford Project in the south of Melbourne as the company hopes it continues to see positive returns from its international investment.
However, these Australian projects are not the first time Supalai has decided to look abroad for new opportunities. The developer previously invested in Petron Megaplaza, a 45-storey office building, in Manila’s Makati area. That project cost of a total of THB840 million.
“Our cost of funds is very low at only 3.48 percent, while the yield from the investment in the Philippines’ office building is 9.1 percent,” Prateep claimed. “International investment can increase our growth potential and diversify risks amid Thailand’s volatile situations such as politics and floods in some years.”
Image: Fyansford Project in the south of Melbourne
