Thai developers shift their focus to launching low-priced apartments

2021 is the first year in the past five where new affordable condos would be the most active segment  

According to Bangkok Post, new condo supply in Bangkok is likely to be dominated by the affordable segment this year, as developers are shifting to this growing market despite many completed units still unsold.  

Phattarachai Taweewong, research and communication director at property consultant Colliers Thailand, said this year is the first in five years that new condo supply with affordable prices would be the most energetic segment.  

“Condos with affordable prices of lower than 100,000 baht per square metre or below THB3 million a unit will mostly dominate the market as developers plan to launch these units in large numbers,” he said. 

Sena Development Plc, winner of the Best Mid End Condo Architectural Design (Bangkok) and Special Recognition in CSR at the PropertyGuru Thailand Property Awards 2019, has eight new projects scheduled to launch this year with units priced below THB2 million (USD64,212). 

Six of these eight projects include units priced lower than THB1 million in city fringe locations, namely Bang Khae, Theparak, Bang Bua Thong, Bang Pu, Lat Krabang, and Rangsit Klong 4.  

Kessara Thanyalakpark, Sena’s managing director, said, “Condo units costing less than THB1 million will replace townhouses in the same locations that are not affordable anymore.” 

Other developers include Sansiri Plc, which aims to launch four new condo projects with units starting at THB1.29 million near CentralPlaza Bangna, Kasetsart University, Ratchayothin skytrain station, and Ramkhamhaeng 12 MRT station.  

“Feasible locations for affordable condos are city fringe areas where new mass transit lines are under construction. Those plots are more available for new development with lower land prices than inner-city areas,” said Phattarachai of Colliers. 

Colliers anticipates more than half of the 4,500 condo units expected to launch in Q2 2021 will be priced at THB50,000-100,000 per square metre, lower than THB2 million per unit.  

Around 46 percent of new supply in the first quarter was near new mass transit lines under construction, such as the Yellow Line, and in city fringe locations.  

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“The best seller in the first quarter were units priced between 100,000-150,000 baht per sq m as all of them came from big projects by large developers that wanted to replace units sold last year,” said Phattarachai. 

According to the Real Estate Information Center (REIC), the number of housing transfers for new condos priced lower than THB3 million rose 1.1 percent from 2020 despite the pandemic. 

Vichai Viratkapan, REIC’s acting director-general, said, “The incentives helped drain unsold inventory in this pricing segment last year. The drop in inventory led to an uptrend in the condo price index in the first quarter this year.”