While domestic sales may be slow, tourism continues to grow in Thailand and this could create new opportunities for property developers to reach foreign investors, shows research from CBRE. Demand from China in particular could be set to increase in the next few years as more tourists from the country visit Thailand.
Foreign investors are interested in Thailand because of low real estate prices combined with high rental yields. It is also less complicated to purchase property in the country when compared to other countries in South East Asia. In the past, most foreign buyers were from Hong Kong and Singapore but more Chinese investors are currently considering investing in Thailand real estate.
“Due to the weak domestic demand in the past 2 years, Thai developers have been expanding their customer base by holding overseas marketing campaigns to adapt to the economic situation. As a result, we have seen more Chinese buyers purchasing condominium units in Bangkok and other major tourist destinations in Thailand,” says CBRE Thailand Research and Consulting Associate Director Chotika Tungsirisurp to the Bangkok Post.
Research finds that Chinese investors tend to prefer buying units under THB 10 million in downtown Bangkok that have easy access to mass transit stations. Tourist locations, including Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and Phuket, are also popular with this group and can be used as holiday homes as well as investment properties. As more tourists from China come to Thailand, there is a chance real estate demand will also increase.
“Thailand is still a relatively new market for Chinese residential real estate investors compared to Malaysia, which has been popular with the Chinese for over 10 years. As a result of today’s growth in popularity of Thailand to Chinese tourists, there is greater potential for Thai developers to sell their developments to overseas buyers,” says Chotika.
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