Apartments have long been popular with expats living in Bangkok and while this group is growing slowly, the apartment market in the downtown area could be one more developers target moving forward. While condos are the most popular property type in the Thai capital, the market for apartments has potential to grow, according to CBRE.
The difference between an apartment building and a condo is who owns the units. In an apartment building, a single person owns all the units and leases them out. Condos have units owned by different people. Apartments are preferred by some living in Bangkok since renters can speak directly to the owner’s representative on all issues including the building including maintenance problems.
The most popular locations for apartments are Sukhumvit, Lumphini and Sathorn and there are currently 10,000 units in these areas, according to CBRE. This is a lot less than the 90,000 condo units found in these places, almost half of which are owned by investors looking to rent them out.
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Apartment occupancy stands at 96%, which is better than the occupancy of condos for rent in the city. Demand and monthly rental budgets has seen limited growth in the apartment segment, but there is still potential if the unit is in the right location with the right price.
“There are several key factors that contribute to the success of an apartment building in Bangkok. In terms of location, Sukhumvit is still the most popular district, but only those areas within 1 kilometre of the main road, with the most popular clusters being around Asoke, Phrom Phong and Thong Lo. There is still demand for 2 and 3 bedroom units with less potential competition from condominiums where 75 per cent of the supply under construction is 1 bedroom units,” says Theerathorn Prapunpong, Head of Residential Leasing Services at CBRE Thailand, to the Bangkok Post.
More insights about Bangkok property market, check out DDproperty Property Index Report and DDproperty Property Market Outlook Report and find out how much you can afford for your new house, try our mortgage calculators .
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