Prime locations and unique selling points will become increasingly important in the Phuket residential market, according to a report from one real estate firm.
Knight Frank (Thailand) noted that Phuket’s property and real estate market it is not bright, according to Nattha Kahapana, Executive Director to Knight Frank Phuket.
The real estate firm said there is a total supply of 11,177 units, 1,654 of which were launched during 2015. Meanwhile there were cumulative sales of 7,393 condominium units between 2007 and 2015, representing a 64.89 percent sold rate over that period.
Nattha said that a recent drop in demand has been caused by the slowdown of the world’s economy, as well as the Ruble depreciation forcing many Russian buyers to disappear from the market.
He also pointed out that the villa market in Phuket has also slowed with only 176 villa units sold during 2015 compared with beween 220 to 250 units sold annually between 2012 and 2014.
However, he noted that it is quite interesting to see average selling prices of super-prime villas launched during 2015 rising as high as US$ 7 million to US$ 10 million per unit – in contrast to earlier launched units which were sold at between US$ 3 million to US$ 5 million each. These new super-prime villas offer sea views, with up to 8-bedrooms. Each occupies land that is 2 rai or larger. These villas are also managed by international hotel chains.
Nattha added that Phuket is running short of beachfront and sea view land for future development of villas. Developers should take into account prime locations and unique selling points of their new projects, he concluded.