|
source: The Nation April 21, 2008
The Real Estate Information Centre surveyed over a dozen key property markets
around Thailand late last year.
Apart from Bangkok and its five neighbouring provinces, the field survey also
covered major provinces in other regions, such as Chiang Mai, Phuket, Chon Buri,
Rayong, Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen and Ayutthaya.
About 1,600 housing estates, each with at least six units remaining to be sold,
were part of the survey. These low-rise housing estates had a combined planned
total of 232,000 units in different phases of completion.
About 64,000 units were yet to be constructed. Approximately 39,000 units are
under construction, while 129,000 units had been completed.
Seventy-three per cent of units that were either under construction or completed
had already been sold, leaving 45,000 units.
The proportion of new condominium units as the percentage of the total new
annual supply of all types of completed housing units in Bangkok and surrounding
provinces has jumped from 12 per cent to 22 per cent from last year. The number
of condominium units under construction was almost three times the number for
low-rise housing units being built.
I can envision the proportion of newly completed condominium units to represent
at least a quarter of all types of housing completions in the next few years.
Mass-transit systems linking Bangkok with its outlying areas will encourage
developers to build low-rise units in those areas.
That could help reduce congestion in the condominium market, but only to a
certain degree, as more high-rises are going to be built along the routes.
|