AFTER a slow first half of the year the larger developers are gearing up to unveil a string of luxury condominium projects because this is the sector that outshone the rest last year while the floods will increase the supply near stations, Nalinrat Chareonsuphong, managing director of Nexus Property Marketing Company said yesterday.
One project currently bounding ahead but is positioned a step higher at the super-luxury end is 98 Wireless Road by Sansiri Plc.
“My understanding is that 98 Wireless Road is doing well but they have not started selling publicly yet only selectively, even so already sold to many people.”
Ms Nalinrat expects the price at the super-luxury segment to edge up by 5 to 10% either at the end of this year or next year. Currently the average price at this rarified segment is 250,000 baht a square meter.
What shook the whole city and along with it the property market is the massive flooding of many areas of Bangkok last Monday and at a lesser level the whole week.
“We have some projects in Srinakharin area and it was flooded all the time, that’s because the water could not drain out quickly – it takes at least half a day to drain it.”
This will lead to more projects near the city’s stations as there is strong demand to be close to them.
However the cost to commuting from further extensions of BTS and MRT lines to the city center is steep for the vast majority with just one train ride being 50 baht and this excludes the cost of a motorcycle or bus ride to the station if so needed. This takes a round trip to around 120 to 150 baht.
“This might spur the cheaper rental market in city fringe areas, such as Ratchadapisek, say around 3,000 to 4,000 baht a unit a month.”
Looking at the nearby resort markets, Hua Hin and Pattaya, Ms Nalinrat said that they are both flat and very quiet right now.
“Buyers’ first home is in Bangkok itself and they tend to be slower in making a decision. And instead of a second home or a luxury prestigious resort home they choose to either stay in hotels or rented properties at the moment.
“While we are not active in Phuket or Koh Samui property markets, I don’t see any positive factors that would improve them.”
She does think that it would be a good idea to extend the lease term for foreigners holding landed properties in Thailand from the current 30 years.
“Of course if we allow foreigners to obtain longer leases they would become more interested in Thai properties especially those at the seaside.”
CAPTIONS:
TOP: Downtown Bangkok is beautifully illuminated one recent evening. Photo: Prachanart Viriyaraks (CC-BY-2.0)
INSET: Ms Nalinrat says developers are focusing on luxury segment.
By Nina Suebsukcharoen
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