Labourers work at the construction site of a condominium near the BTS Wutthakat station in Thon Buri on March 30, 2015. Land prices along the BTS lines more than doubled over the past 16 years, according to AREA. (File photo by Patipat Janthong)
Houses and condominiums in Hua Hin and Pran Buri districts of Prachuap Khiri Khan province were the most expensive in the country last year, with an average unit price of 4.48 million baht compared to 3 million baht in Bangkok, according to a survey on Thailand’s 26 largest cities in 2014.
Trailing them were units in Phuket’s Kathu district, where the average unit price was 3.51 million baht, and coastal Pattaya, at 3.35 million, according to the Agency of Estate Affairs (AREA), a database service provider for the real estate industry.
Housing units were most affordable in Chon Buri province’s Muang district, at 1.62 million baht a unit, said AREA chairman Sopon Pornchokchai in a statement released on Tuesday.
The area was also the most active among the surveyed provinces, with the most launches (6,094 units or 16% of all new units in the provinces) and the highest sales by unit (3,913 units or 8.4%).
But Phuket’s Muang district booked the highest sales by value, at 11.38 billion baht or 24.5% from 2,925 units (6.3%).
Overall, the provincial markets remained small, with the number of units combined half that of Bangkok.
The area with no launches last year were Map Ta Phut (Rayong) and Doi Saket (Chiang Mai) in line with sluggish sales.
Surprisingly, only 393 units were sold in Phetchaburi’s resort town of Cha-am but 1,077 units were launched in 2014, Mr Sopon wrote.
The area with the largest remaining supply last year was coastal Pattaya, with 12,572 units available for sale.
The situation was most worrisome in Chiang Mai. In San Kamphaeng, the remaining units will be sold out in 25.4 months while Mae Rim will see the existing supply taken up in 20.4 months.
On average, the existing housing supply in the provinces will be sold out in 6.4 months, compared to more than 12 months in Bangkok.
Bangkok still paved with gold
Land prices in Bangkok and its vicinities rose 3.5% on average in 2014 and are expected to climb further by 3% this year.
The most expensive plots were those along the BTS mass transit line in Siam, Chidlom and Phloenchit, at 1.75 million a square wah or 700 million baht a rai. They are expected to rise further to a range between 1.9 million and 2 million baht a sq w this year, Mr Sopon wrote.
Land prices on Sukhumvit Soi 1-21 near the BTS Nana and Asok stations, changed hands for 1.7 million baht a sq w last year, overtaking Silom, where prices were 1.5 million, for the first time.
Over the past 16 years, Bangkok land prices increased 84%. They jumped 158% in the heart of the capital compared to 69-89% in the suburbs, thanks to mass transit expansion.
The cheapest plots could be found near Khlong 13 in Lam Luk Ka, Pathum Thani province, where they cost 2,500 baht a sq w or 1 million baht a rai, compared to 3,500 a sq w in 1996. This indicated the prices of land in the suburbs far from mass transit lines would stagnate or even fall over time.
Note: 1 sq w = 4 sq m, 1 rai = 400 sq w or 1,600 sq m
Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/559119/hua-hin-leads-in-home-prices
