High-end realty market buoyant

Although most home-builders have cut back on their developments, ultra high-end niche-market developers are still breaking ground all over Thailand. Ultra high-end real estate in Thailand can range from beach-front or mountain villas on Koh Samui or Phuket to large luxurious high-rise condominiums in Bangkok. These types of niche-market homes currently sell for a minimum of Bt35 million.

Baht strengthens- real estate suffers

The rapid increase in the US dollar and Thai baht exchange rate has largely been explained as weakness of the US dollar around the globe, and more recently by continued inflow of foreign capital to Thailand (particularly via the stock market). Thai baht strength has not only become a major concern for exporters, but also has implications for Thailand´s real estate sectors."If overseas investors decide to acquire real estate assets in Thailand now, they may have to pay approximately 8% more, comparing to the beginning of the year, due the baht appreciation," Mrs. Suphin said.

Bangkok’s easing property market

Bangkok’s property market in the first half of 2007, showed a considerable amount of signs in slowing down, but the short-term outlook has improved due to Thailand’s political instabilities improving. According to real estate services and investment management firm- Jones Lang LaSalle, the future of the property market in the second half of the year, depends highly on the overall prospect of the economy.

Property upturn on the horizon

''You might have noticed that people who live in condos these days are generally new families, first-time buyers, expatriates living in Thailand, those who have small families or those who don't have [children] at all. These people don't have the lifestyle to live in condos that have four to five bedrooms,'' says Mr Thongchai. ''If you study the yield per square metre, you will notice that small condos' performance per square metre is better than that of the bigger ones.''

What a difference 10 years makes

Since the financial crisis in 1997, the Thai real estate market has shown remarkable strength over the last 10 years in its path to recovery. While property assets have appreciated from lows posted in the aftermath of recession in the late 1990s, rental and capital values in some sectors have already risen above pre-crisis speaks, according to real estate service and investment management firm, Jones Lang LaSalle.

Thailand Property Investment

Thai and overseas property investors alike are beginning to take great interest in the many real estate and property investment opportunities in Thailand. Thailand has moved on from being the most exotic of holiday destinations, to being a place where Asian holiday-home owners, European and US ex-pats and property investors alike are beginning to take great interest in the many real estate and property investment opportunities.

The listed developer Quality Houses Plc plans to raise between three billion and 3.5 billion baht

The company plans to use four or five buildings as underlying assets for the fund. They will include three residential buildings under the Centre Point brand in Phetchaburi 15, Sukhumvit 10 and Saladaeng, and one or two of its Q House office buildings.

A Passion for Thailand

Christian Widing of Logans Thailand is building and selling homes in Thailand for a living, but that is not what drives him to be so passionate about his life and work. “Every time I succeed in opening the eyes of someone to Thailand, making them see what I see, feel what I feel towards this country and its people, that’s when I feel that all my trouble is actually worth something,” Christian says. “Technically, you may say that I am selling them a home, but in my heart what I enjoy most is that if have found some more people, with whom to share my love of Thailand.”

Thailand to provide new services for foreign buyers

A range of new services are to be made available to foreign buyers in Thailand via a new services centre, designed to offer advice and guidance for overseas property investors in the Thai property market.

Bangkok Bank plans to increase its focus on the foreign property market in Phuket

"The Phuket property market has exploded over the past five years. Previously, sales were mostly to expatriates working in Hong Kong or Singapore. Now over 70% of sales are to European customers, particularly those from England, Germany, Italy and Scandanavia" Mr Piya said.

Thailand real estate is no white elephant

The Thai real estate sector has undergone intense scrutiny over the last 2 ½ years. The devastating Tsunami in December 2004 and military coup in September 2006 certainly gained the ‘land of smiles’ global attention however the Thai government and its people have worked hard to utilise this interest positively. Far from being a white elephant (which are incidentally sacred and a sign of prosperity in their native SE Asia), there is continued interest in Thailand as an investment opportunity.

The lagging Thai real estate market could present a great opportunity for bargain hunters

Singapore's market is supported by foreign investors buying luxury projects that are integrated with resorts. Although Mr Philips is confident in the Thai property market's long-term potential, he cautions that the strong baht has made Thai property expensive to new foreign buyers, while benefiting earlier investors. Amid the upbeat projection of the Thai market's long-term potential, he acknowledged that the market, be it Bangkok, Hua Hin or Phuket, is lacklustre at the moment.

Thai Stock focus :Preuksa Real Estate

Preuksa Real Estate's presales in the first five months of the year were spectacular at Bt4.4 billion, surpassing last year's entire first-half presales of Bt3.7 billion. This was due to great success with presales of 85 per cent in a single day during this year's second quarter for its first city condo, The Ivy Ratchada, totalling Bt880 million. Affordable prices and an attractive location 170 metres from a Skytrain station are the main reasons behind the warm welcome from its low-income customers.

Thai real estate goes green

Thailand’s real estate developers are increasingly taking on hues of green, as a traditionally conservative industry begins to embrace eco-friendly practices. The impetus seems to be coming largely from changing public opinion about environmental footprints, carbon emissions, and global climate change.

Let the wheel of karma turn full circle

Despite ongoing investigations into corruption, abuse of power, widespread cronyism and other misdeeds during the Thaksin administration that are reported daily to the public, there remain some admirers and fans of the former premier who close their eyes to reality and refuse to recognise what is happening and how much damage has already been done to the country.

Appeal of condo speculation

Speculators seem undeterred by the cloudy political and economic outlook and are still buying condominiums, with purchases averaging 10-15% of the units in promising projects, according to Phanom Kanjanathiemthao, the managing director of the property agency Knight Frank Chartered.