Thailand property market attracts new investors

Robert Collins, MD of Savills (Thailand) comments that Dubai investors and property developers were interested in hotels and villas in Bangkok and Phuket. They would buy the units for their own residences and to rent out. Projected returns would be between 5% and 8% per year.

Currently, there were two or three property investors from Dubai entering the Thailand property market and there could be five to 10 in the next three years, said Mr Collins. They would draw individual buyers to Thailand and also could take over some listed property developers.

In India and Russia, the investors are newly rich and have a lot of money to invest worldwide, especially in Thailand where the tourism industry is attractive. While India's new rich were from the software industry, their Russian counterparts' wealth is in minerals and oil.

"To attract property buyers, developers should have good project plans, strong financial status and real Thai partners in case they are overseas investors," said Mr Collins.

"The Samui property market from the buyer side had slowed down since last year but it has already picked up in the past two months," said Mr Collins. "The major factor is the stabilisation of the political situation and pent-up demand since last year.""

Meanwhile, the negative impact from the Foreign Business Act, which delayed foreign buyers' decisions since late last year, has diminished as buyers understand the issues better and are opting to lease units for 30 years instead of buying a property in Thailand.

Since its establishment in Thailand in February last year, Savills (Thailand) has managed sales of 12 projects worth a combined 10 billion baht.

Courtesy: Bangkok Post

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