CBRE Thailand believes that the city’s central business district (CBD) property market is in good standing, compared to midtown and suburban real estate segments, due to the limited new supply in the core downtown markets. Comprised of Sukhumvit, Lumpini, Sathorn, Phaya Thai and the riverside, the area’s overall existing and new supply accounts for less than 20 percent of the total condominium supply in Bangkok.
There are just over 100,000 completed condominium units in the CBD and a further 26,000 units due to be completed over the next three years, said CBRE. There is very little built-but-unsold inventory in completed buildings, as well as few units being offered for resale.
Despite the political crisis in the first half of the year, there have been record-breaking land transactions in the centre of Bangkok, inferring that any new condo project will be more expensive to develop, which will push up prices. For example, it was reported that Q House, a listed property developer, paid between THB 1.7 million and 1.8 million per square wah (4 square metres) for a 3-rai (4,800 square metres) site on the corner of Sukhumvit Soi 6 to build a luxury condominium.
“Anyone expecting condominium prices to fall in the downtown area due to the political turmoil is likely to be disappointed, and there is more chance of pricing rising rather than falling,” said James Pitchon, executive director of CBRE Thailand.
