Super-prime condo market to keep growing, says Knight Frank
The Bangkok market for super-prime condominiums will continue to grow this year but at a much slower sales pace, according to Knight Frank Thailand.
Frank Khan, executive director and residential head, said 2016 was another outstanding year for Bangkok’s prime and super-prime condo market, with strong demand and high price growth despite the spillover effect from the slowing economy.
On the supply side, developers with land banks in prime areas found the segment to be more suitable for development, which could generate higher-than-average returns on plots with higher land-acquisition costs.
On the demand side, buyers in this segment were mostly affluent individuals who do not rely on home loans. There is a lot of demand from Hong Kong buyers in this segment.
This year, six Bangkok condo projects have been added to Knight Frank’s Bangkok prime and super-prime condo lists.
Prime Sukhumvit retained the largest share of the market, with 597 units entering the market – 236 of which belonged to the super-prime market.
These units are from Khun by Yoo on Thong Lo and Vittorio on Phrom Phong.
Central Lumpini saw 513 units entering the market from two super-prime projects – 98 Wireless on Wireless Road and 28 Chidlom on Chit Lom Road.
None of the new projects from the Sathorn and Riverside areas this year qualified as prime or super-prime.
The prime and super-prime condo segment remained the most resilient of the country’s property market, with strong demand and price growth compared with the overall Bangkok and Phuket markets.
For the prime segment, the accumulated sold-rate at the end of the year stood at 75.4 per cent, with 382 units sold.
For the super-prime, the accumulated sold-rate fell for the second year in a row to 53.6 per cent from 59.3 per cent at the end of year, despite a very high number of first-hand transactions – 284 units sold this year.
Mostly responsible for the decline in the sold-rate were two projects that could not commence a full project launch and promotional campaign while the country mourned the passing of His Majesty King Rama IX.
The two were 28 Chidlom with 436 units and Vittorio with 88 units.
Without these two projects, the accumulated sold-rate for 2016 would have been 66 per cent.
Source: The Nation
Realty in Thon Buri set to grow
The property market in Bangkok’s Thon Buri area is poised for growth due to its population density and the near-completion of the extension of the mass-transit system into the area, according to research by Plus Property Co, a property-agency arm of Sansiri.
The research found that demand for condominiums near the planned train stations in the Phetkasem-Bang Khae zone had grown over the past five years, with supply growing accordingly.
Convenient commutes and multiple linkages with downtown Bangkok provide solutions for real occupants, and not just investors.
Plus Property managing director Anukul Ratpitaksanti said the research had indicated that the Phetkasem-Bang Khae zone was one of the areas of interest thanks to significant progress on construction of the electric-train network in the Thon Buri area.
The Green Line BTS route has already commenced service, while the Hua Lamphong-Lak Song and Bang Sue-Tha Phra extensions to the Blue Line are also up and coming. Construction of the two extension routes, which meet at Tha Phra Station, is more than 80 per cent complete.
Service on the Hua Lamphong-Lak Song route is expected to commence in early 2019 while service on the Bang Sue-Tha Phra route is expected to begin by 2020.
Service commencement is expected to allow residents along these routes to reach downtown Bangkok more easily via connections with the Green Line at Bang Wa Station and the original Blue Line at Hua Lamphong Station.
Phetkasem Road is currently the main road servicing four districts in western Bangkok, also known as Thon Buri.
The four districts – Bangkok Yai, Phasi Charoen, Bang Khae and Nong Khaem – have a combined population of 550,000 and a population density of 2.53 persons per household.
The latter figure exceeds Bangkok’s average per-household density of 2.13 persons, meaning that housing demand still exists within the locale. This results in the development of condominiums.
“Demand for high-rise condominiums on the segment of Phetkasem Road along the Blue Line [route] is 5,161 units whereas supply stands at 3,654 units – a sale total of 71 per cent,” Anukul said.
“The average price is Bt89,000 per square metre, meaning a one-bedroom unit has an average price of Bt2.7 million.
“This is significantly lower than the prices at projects in the vicinity of the stations on the Green Line from Bang Wa to Talat Phlu, where the average selling price is Bt3.2 million per unit, despite the fact that the two locales are not far apart.”
Source: The Nation
Thailand under strain from tourist surge
Thailand’s tourist industry faces “trouble” without urgent investment to cope with an expected near-doubling of visitors to 60m by 2030, a top official has warned.The Southeast Asian kingdom must press ahead with plans to expand ports, airports and railways to deal with a holidaymaker surge that has propped up the spluttering economy but put a growing strain on infrastructure, said Pongpanu Svetarundra, permanent secretary to the tourism ministry.
The visitor boom partly reflects explosive travel growth among newly wealthy Chinese. The rush has delivered the ruling military junta in Bangkok a much-needed financial boost but left airports and other choke points buckling under the strain.
Mr Pongpanu told the Financial Times “everyone is starting to get a little bit worried” by the impact of annual visitor numbers that have more than doubled in the past six years, with the tourism sector now accounting for almost a fifth of the economy. “If we don’t do anything, we will get into trouble,” Mr Pongpanu said, adding that his ministry was lobbying the transport department to push ahead with infrastructure plans. “The congestion will be more and more. This is why it’s the most opportune moment to talk of upgrading, investment and expansion of existing facilities.”
Thailand’s tourism ambitions will be underscored this week as it hosts the global summit of the World Travel & Tourism Council, where David Cameron, former UK prime minister, gave a keynote address. The country is also scheduled to host high-profile international events in fields from motorcycle racing to gastronomy as part of an effort to grow as a venue for speciality holidays. Tourism is a rare source of growth for an economy hobbled by a decade of on-off political crises that included a military coup three years ago.
Government figures suggest the sector accounts directly and indirectly for about 17.7 per cent of gross domestic product, while some international estimates put the number as high as 20 per cent, Mr Pongpanu said. He acknowledged the potential pitfalls of overdependence on the industry. Holidaymakers from mainland China accounted for almost half the rise in visitor arrivals from 15.9m in 2010 to 32.6m last year, driven in part by Lost in Thailand, a 2012 road trip film that won cult status in the Middle Kingdom.
Source:FT
Thai tourism improves by a sliver
Released last week, the ministry’s data showed the country attracted 9,194,057 international visits, last year, compared with 9,038,893 visits during the same period last year.
The data is based on foreign passports, or ID holders, passing through international checkpoints (land, sea and air).
Tourism and Sports Permanent Secretary Pongpanu Svetarundra said China, Malaysia and Russia were the main source markets that helped to boost the country’s tourism in the first quarter of the year.
Tourism in Q1 also generated an estimated B154.698 billion in revenue up 3.73% over same quarter last year, he said.
In March, foreign the country recorded 3,007,833 visits up 2.01% from 2,948,690 visits during the same month last year.
By regions, all markets recorded increases except East Asia, the Oceania and Africa.
The Middle East recorded the highest growth of 25.41% from 60,400 to 75,747 visits. Israel showed the highest arrivals with 14,134 visits up 33.78% from 10,565 visits.
Other main markets in the Middle East: United Arab Emirates (13,809; +22.36%); Kuwait (4,226; +13.69%); Saudi Arabia (2,425; +25.71%); and Egypt (2,138; +1.71%).
South Asia posted an increase of 14.47% from 117,557 to 134,564 visits. India led the field supplying 103,634 visits growing 14.22% from 90,735 followed by Bangladesh (10,709; +31.48%), Pakistan (7,901; +29.82%), Sri Lanka (4,842; -22.68%) and Nepal (4,132; +28.36%).
The Americas recorded a growth of 11.51% from 130,112 to 145,085 visits. The US recorded the highest arrivals at 93,768 up 7.56% from 87,174 followed by Canada (25,402; +1.17%), Argentina (9,762; +54.83%) and Brazil (8,981; +97.30%).
Europe increased 3.85% from 632,223 to 656,554 visits. The markets that showed improvements were: Russia (+43.76%); East Europe (+22.73%); Finland (+8.05%); France (+4.23%); and the Netherlands (+1.25%).
The markets that showed declines were: Norway (-35.33%); Denmark (-20.42%); Spain (-17.56%); Switzerland (-15.69%); UK (-13.21%); Belgium (-10.27%); Sweden (-7.65%); Italy (-4.67%); Austria (-4.09%); and Germany (-1.56%).
In contrast, East Asia (ASEAN included) slightly declined 0.45% from 1,922,203 to 1,913,482 visits. The markets showed declines were: Hong Kong (-19.92%); China (-7.85%); and Malaysia (-4.97%).
The markets showed improvements were: South Korea (+24.15%); Myanmar (+15.63%); Vietnam (+15.45%); Laos (+15.31%); Japan (+14.06%); Indonesia (+11.80%); Taiwan (+6.81%); the Philippines (+6.42%); Cambodia (+6.41%); Brunei (+6.33%); and Singapore (+2.37%).
Oceania reported a decrease of 4.07% from 71,197 to 68,296 visits. The main markets Australia and New Zealand showed declines at 46.2% (60,244) and 1.05% (7,720) respectively.
Africa posted a slowdown of 5.95% from 14,998 to 14,105 visits. The main market South Africa dropped 13.33% from 7,170 to 6,214.
Late last month Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor Yuthasak Supasorn announced that Thailand was expected to finish the first quarter of 2017 right on target with tourism revenue of B734 billion, up 9% over the same period of 2016.
The growth momentum is anticipated to continue through to the second quarter with an 11% year-on-year increase on revenue to B630b, including B16.6bn revenue targeted from tourism spending during the five-day Songkran holiday.
“In the first quarter, we’ve seen healthy growth from all source markets, and so we expect this growth momentum to continue into the second quarter,” Mr Yuthasak said.
“This expectation is based on a number of factors. Thailand will host the WTTC Global Summit 2017, from April 26-27 in Bangkok, and the Destination Wedding Planners Congress 2017, from May 2-4 in Phuket.
“TAT will also enhance our marketing efforts in China through a series of roadshow events that focus on the luxury, health and wellness, and new markets as well as through celebrity marketing under the ‘Experience Thailand with Mario’ campaign,” he added.
Source: Class Act Media
Thailand export surge keeps growth target in reach
A SURGE in exports last month pushed up the value of first-quarter shipments by 4.9 per cent to $56.46 billion from the year before for the best performance in four years, fuelled by multi-year highs in trade volumes with China and India.
The figures from the Ministry of Commerce show a 9.2 per cent year-on-year jump to US$20.89 billion in exports for March. That prompted Pimchanok Vonkorpon, the director-general at the ministry’s Trade Policy and Strategy Office, to express confidence for this year’s target of 5 per cent export growth to be met.Pimchanok cited as encouraging a rise in crude oil prices that could boost prices of key agricultural products and crude-related products, as well as a recovery in the global economy and trade flows.
Global crude prices are projected to rise gradually within a range of US$50 to $60 per barrel. The baht is forecast to trade between 35.5 and 37.5 to the US dollar. The International Monetary Fund forecasts the global economy will grow 3.5 per cent this year. Last year, it expanded 3.1 per cent.For March, the bulk of the surge in value of exports came from capital goods and raw materials, reflecting a return to confidence and an expected increase in investment in the country. As a result, Thailand enjoyed a trade surplus of US$1.62 billion for that month. For the first quarter, imports increased 14.8 per cent to $52.4 billion, leaving a trade surplus of $4.05 billion for the period.
In March, exports of agricultural products and agri-industry shipments rose 12 per cent from the previous year. Exports of crude-related products expanded in line with the rise in global crude prices. Exports of rubber soared 95.4 per cent in the month.For the quarter, exports of agricultural products and agri-industry goods increased 10.6 per cent.In March, exports of manufacturing products expanded 8.7 per cent year on year. Exports of rubber products surged 64.7 per cent year on year that month, while petroleum products climbed 53.9 per cent. For the quarter, sales of manufactured products inched up 3.5 per cent.
In March, exports to China soared 47.6 per cent, a five-year high, led by rubber products, machinery and components. Sales to South Asia including India climbed 19.1 per cent, led by chemical products and vehicles. For the quarter, exports to China surged 36.9 per cent and that to South Asia, 22.8 per cent.Sales to Japan, the European Union (to 15 economies) and the US rose 14.9 per cent, 10.2 per cent and 7.1 per cent in March, respectively. Those to the so-called CLMV countries – Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam – jumped 18.1 per cent. Shipments to South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong expanded 24.7 per cent, 27.1 per cent and 10 per cent for the month, respectively.
Source:The Nation
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