EXCLUSIVE: That’s the question being posed by the Director of one leading overseas property website after the Thailand’s position in its monthly ranking of most-searched overseas property destinations remained static for the second month during August.
Having reached the dizzy heights of the fourth most-searched location in the world on the British based property website TheMoveChannel.com as recently as June, Thailand’s position slipped to 14th overall in July and remained in the same position with 1.32 percent of all search traffic looking for property and real estate in Thailand on the website during August.
Dan Johnson of TheMoveChannel.com, speaking exclusively to Dot Property Group, said: “Thailand has maintained its prominent position in TheMoveChannel.com rankings without a great deal of effort from Thai developers and real estate agents.
“There is a strong underlying interest in what remains an extremely affordable destination given the quality of lifestyle that can be attained there.
“It feels like this is something of a missed opportunity; the real estate market in Thailand could and should be reaping bigger benefits from a concerted promotional effort to build on the existing interest and push the best deals out to what seems to be a receptive global audience.”
Arguably given the events in Bangkok during August, Thailand did well to maintain its position, but the majority of searches carried out on the website have traditionally been for resort property investments.
And more good news is that Thailand still remains the most-searched destination on the website, although property agents and developers should not be too complacent as the Philippines has risen strongly and is now just four places behind Thailand in the monthly rankings.
Elsewhere, demand has surged for property in Portugal. The portal reported that Portugal jumped up the charts to become the third most popular country in the world among overseas buyers.
Spain and the United States remained the most popular destinations among users of the website. Spain accounted for more than one in 10 enquiries (11.25 percent, up from 9.37 percent in July 2015) while the United States held on to its second spot, accounting for 7.18 percent of enquiries (down from 8.61 per cent in July 2015).
Brazil, a more established favourite among investors thanks to the upcoming 2016 Olympic Games, rose one place into fourth, accounting for 3.41 percent of enquiries while the United Arab Emirates climbed six places to reach the top five with 3.38 percent of enquiries.
