Coup has done little to change real estate market

The effects on the Thailand real estate market in the wake of this September’s military coup will vary from region to region say industry insiders.

Bill Barnett, Managing Director of C9 Hotelworks in Phuket says there will be little effect to the paradise islands skyrocketing real estate market.

“We don’t see any significant changes, especially at the higher end where you have offshore companies developing mixed use estates, with hotels and condominiums” he said when asked about the development side of things. “There have been no glitches among big institutional investors.”


Barnett said that even at the smaller-scale investment side – condos going for US$80,000 and $100,000 – there were no changes. “I spoke to two or three of our purchasers post coup, who said they were still going ahead with their planned purchases without a hint of hesitation.”

“Most people who are buying in Phuket aren’t too concerned,” he said, adding that the average person who invests in Phuket real estate knows that Thailand’s political fluctuations usually have very little to do with the business side of the property sector.

Henri Young, the marketing director at Raimon Land said political prospects for Bangkok’s medium – to long term property market will be much better for real estate investment.

Short term, we will see that there will be slowdown in sales,” he said, largely because of inflated reports of the coup in the press.

He said that once people realize that the coup has lent to a better situation, sales in the capital will likely be better than before the coup. “Sales will improve in the New Year,” he concluded.

Desmond Hughes, a lawyer at Thailand law firm Belmont and Limcharoen said any fluctuations in investor appeal for Thailand has mostly been related to exchange rates and the validity of contract payments.

“I’ve had a couple of clients who have held back for a couple of weeks on signing, but are not withdrawing,” he said, noting they were likely seeing which way the baht went to get the best deal possible.

He said that the real estate industry in general would only be expected to decline rapidly if there was violence. “Most markets are speculating on who the new prime minister will be, and I wouldn’t expect anybody to start lowering their prices for land.

Thailand Property Report

Quote:“Most people who are buying in Phuket aren’t too concerned,” he said, adding that the average person who invests in Phuket real estate knows that Thailand’s political fluctuations usually have very little to do with the business side of the property sector.

In the great scheme of things as coups go this one was one of the most `uneventful` I can remember.