Features of real estate in Southeast Asia
Thailand has no competitors in the region: the most developed country in Southeast Asia, Singapore, offers real estate, the cost of which exceeds not only the indicators of its neighbors, but also of many European countries. Myanmar, Laos, Pakistan are countries where political repression is still taking place. Indonesia is excellent in terms of housing offers, however, land can only be rented there, in addition, there are restrictions on the number of real estate purchased, when it is no longer possible to buy two objects or more. The Filipinos also limited the number of purchased real estate: the maximum area of an object in the city should not exceed 1000 square meters, and in rural areas up to 1 hectare of land.
In Vietnam, a restriction was introduced on the acquisition of real estate for a period of 50 years, and in Cambodia and Malaysia, a foreigner can purchase housing only through a local company or rent it for up to 99 years. Therefore, it is easier for foreigners to purchase housing in Thailand. Today, a foreigner here can register an apartment in full ownership (freehold) or in a long-term lease for 90 years (leasehold). When buying a villa, the house is registered as ownership, and the land is for long-term lease. A long-term lease agreement is registered with the land department, which guarantees the protection of a foreigner and the inviolability of his property for 90 years. In addition, a long-term lease is not a property, so foreigners who do not want to have property abroad according to documents buy it in leasehold.
Housing prices continue to rise
The latest statistics report the constantly rising prices for residential real estate in Thailand: in the third quarter of this year, prices for condominiums in Bangkok increased by 11%. Pattaya and Phuket are not far behind the capital, where activity in the construction of residential real estate was noted in 2018. Until 2014, the most active buyers of local real estate were Russians, but now our compatriots have lost the palm to the Chinese. The Russians began to weigh everything very carefully, think it over and only then make a purchase. But, nevertheless, over 50,000 Russians have already become owners of real estate in Thailand, half of whom have acquired real estate in Phuket.
Also, quite regularly, Thai square meters are acquired by both Europeans - French, Germans, British, and Asians - Koreans, Malaysians, Indians. Thais themselves most often buy apartments managed by hotels in resorts. They take out mortgages from banks at 3-4%, then receive an income of 7-15%.
The main regions of the real estate market in Thailand
Mostly in Thailand, foreigners buy resort property - in Pattaya, Phuket and Koh Samui. Earlier, the real estate market began to develop in Pattaya, where now mainly multi-apartment complexes with an average apartment area of 20-25 sq.m. are being built - at the moment the supply exceeds demand. An unconditional plus is that the prices for local real estate in Pattaya are the lowest compared to other resorts in the country. However, the local market, due to high competition and dumping prices, does not allow for high rental income.The most expensive and prestigious area in Pattaya is its northern part - Naklua in the Wongamat beach area, and the most popular are Jomtien and Pratumnak. Most often, apartments in condominiums are purchased here, mainly in new buildings directly from developers. On average, a studio can be purchased for 40,000 euros, a 1-bedroom apartment for 70,000 euros, and a 2-bedroom apartment for 130,000 euros.
On Koh Samui, villas are mainly built due to the mountainous terrain. There are beautiful beaches and interesting chamber objects here, but due to the fact that the island's area is small, there is no international airport and full-scale infrastructure, there is no international airport, the rainy season comes in December.
Fans of full-scale resorts give their preference to Phuket. There is a balance of white beaches and infrastructure (shopping centers, yacht clubs, golf courses, international hospitals and schools, international airport). Both apartment complexes and villas are being built. Since 70% of the island is mountains, so the buildings with apartments are no more than 7-8 floors high. Because of this, there is always an acute shortage of land and there is a stable growth in real estate value by 5-6% per year. Due to these factors, Phuket has the highest property prices in Thailand.
The local real estate market is changing a lot: for example, in Phuket until 2014, the average transaction price was $ 300,000 and villas were most often bought - for personal use and renting out. The landlord's income is usually 7-10% per annum of the value of the apartment or even more. Nowadays, apartments managed by hotel chains are of great interest - the cost of such an object, including finishing, plumbing and air conditioning, is 70-100,000 dollars. You can even buy an apartment in Phuket for $ 50,000 in a condominium, but at the initial stage of construction. Therefore, experts recommend buying apartments in a residential complex at the initial stage of its construction under hotel management. Owning real estate in such complexes, you can make good money on subsequent resale or lease. Recently, more and more of our compatriots opt for small apartments in such condo hotels, since their payback period is literally 5-14 years, depending on the project.
Thank you for your help in preparing the material:
Svetlana Kasatkina, Managing Partner of Exotic Property
Oksana Wiseschart , General Manager, The Best Holidays and Property
Elena Teplyakova, Sales Manager at Phuket Buy House
