Thai developers want to see Baan Dee Mee Down and other incentives extended until the end of the year as the country starts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The program was part of the government’s property stimulus package that launched late last year.
Baan Dee Mee Down provided registered taxpayers in Thailand with a THB50,000 cash rebate when they purchased a new property. To be eligible for the program, applicants monthly income had to be less than THB100,000 per month or THB1.2 million annually.
The goal of the program was to entice hesitant homebuyers to bring forward their purchasing decision. However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused the property market to slow down with the discount not being enough incentive to buy a home.
Registration for Baan Dee Mee Down expired on March 31, but developers believe the program should be extended in order to stimulate the property market.
Extending Baan Dee Mee Down and other incentives
Khun Wasan Kiangsiri, President of the Housing Business Association, explained to The Nation that many developers are already running promotions, but further incentives are needed to support homebuyers at the moment.
Demand for condos in Thailand is beginning to recover, but many potential buyers are still hesitant to buy. According to Khun Wasan, extending Baan Dee Mee Down is one of the ways the government could support developers and the recovery of the country’s property market.
In 2019, the property transfer fee was reduced from two percent to 0.01 percent while the mortgage fee was cut from one percent to 0.01 percent. However, this only applied to properties priced at THB3 million or less.
Experts would like to see these measures cover higher priced properties as well. Additionally, they recommend making Baan Dee Mee Down available to all property buyers. The hope is this would lead to a more robust property market recovery in Thailand.
“The measures should cover all market segments or every unit price if the policy wants to have a strong impact like previous measures did. The cut in transfer and mortgage fees should be given to all price ranges.” Aliwassa Pathanadabutr, Managing Director CBRE Thailand, told local media.