Sorapoj Techakraisri, chief executive of Pace Development Corporation, the developer of the luxury condo MahaNakhon in Bangkok’s Central Business District, shared that demand for luxury condominiums is still growing among foreign buyers after the May coup. As reported in The Nation, Mr. Techakraisri commented, “From May 22 until June 20, we were able to sell [units of] MahaNakhon, worth THB 200 million, to foreign buyers from Europe and the US.”
He added, “Although the country’s political uncertainty ran from last year until the coup on May 22, demand to buy a luxury condominium is still growing from both the domestic and foreign markets.” Buyers generally invest in such high-end properties for self-occupancy and investment purposes.
Such activity has boosted presales in the MahaNakhon project to 60 percent, or THB 6 billion. Residential prices in Bangkok are rising an average 5 percent a year; prices at MahaNakhon have climbed by more than 20 percent since presales began three years ago, from starting prices of THB 200,000 to 300,000 per square metre to THB 250,000 to 400,000 per square metre.
Pace plans to launch an additional luxury condo project, worth THB 6 billion, in the Langsuan area in the final quarter of this year, following the launch of a THB 3-billion luxury villa project, MahaSamutr, in Hua Hin this September.
To support its expansion, the company plans to issue debentures worth THB 1.5 billion in the fourth quarter, after it issued debentures worth THB 1.5 billion in the first five months of the year. Pace is also considering the prospects of raising capital by selling its retail business to a real estate investment trust (REIT).