Thailand has a whopping $40 billion in unsold homes

[buksida]

THAILAND has a total of 454,814 residential units worth US$41 billion left unsold last year, a local industry expert said.

President of the Agency for Real Estate Affairs, Sopon Pornchokchai on Thursday said unsold units in Bangkok made of for 40 percent of the total units left over from 2018 and 55 percent of the total value.

“This meant that Bangkok has become the only primate city in Thailand,” he said.

He said the supplies included detached houses, semi-detached houses, townhouses, shophouses, condominiums, and residential land subdivision catered by formal private housing developers in Thailand.

Bangkok had the most unsold units totalling 91,600, while Chonburi in the east has a total supply of 34,400 units followed by Nonthaburi with 32,700 units.

According to The Nation, the total number of housing units developed in 2018 was 26,224,081.

Private developers built 454,814 units last year, or 1.73 percent of the total existing housing stock.

Full story: https://asiancorrespondent.com/2019/01/ ... old-homes/


I would imagine there are several thousand unsold houses and condos in Hua Hin also ...

[StevePIraq]

And yet the bubble continues to grow.

Plus this statement is absolute bullshit
"According to The Nation, the total number of housing units developed in 2018 was 26,224,081." That's 26.2million.

[hhinner]

And yet the bubble continues to grow.

Plus this statement is absolute bullshit
"According to The Nation, the total number of housing units developed in 2018 was 26,224,081." That's 26.2million.

I think the word "developed" should be deleted. The following paragraph would then agree with the 26m.

[mudcat]

As often is the case, spokesmen speak English without really understanding what they are saying, but so long as it sounds authoritative:

“This meant that Bangkok has become the only primate city in Thailand,” he said.

According to most definitions and usages, Bangkok is and will be Thailand's primate city until the seas rise:

Here is Wikipedia's discussion of primate cities with a focus on Thailand:

Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, has been called "the most primate city on Earth", being roughly thirty-five times larger than Thailand's second-largest city of Nakhon Ratchasima.[10] Taking the concept from his examination of the primate city during the 2010 Thai political protests and applying it to the role that primate cities play if they are national capitals, Jack Fong's study noted that when primate cities like Bangkok function as national capitals, they are inherently vulnerable to insurrectionary dynamics by the subaltern, and the dispossessed. He cites the simple fact that most primate cities serving as national capitals contain major headquarters for the country. Thus, logistically, it is rather "efficient" for national targets to be contested since they are all located within one major urban environment.[11]

[handdrummer]

It really means that most of the inhabitants of Bangkok are primates.

[jimk]

A clue that this story is gibberish can be found in its assertion that the number of residential units built by private developers last year -- 454,814 -- exactly equals the number of units still unsold.

[T.O.M.]

A clue that this story is gibberish can be found in its assertion that the number of residential units built by private developers last year -- 454,814 -- exactly equals the number of units still unsold.

Don't spoil a good 'The Stupid Thai's" story with something as boring as facts....

BTW the value of unsold properties in the UK is way above the $40 billion mentioned here...

[frank1957]

There is a simple explanation as to why so many properties are unsold..........ridiculously over priced houses the developer want European prices when people are actually looking for reasonable prices

[T.O.M.]

There is a simple explanation as to why so many properties are unsold..........ridiculously over priced houses the developer want European prices when people are actually looking for reasonable prices

It might come as a surprise to you, but most houses in Thailand are actually sold to Thai buyers......and I doubt very much, that Thai developers are asking European prices.
The market has slowed down, because of a new law requiring a down payment of at least 5-20 % of the price...depending on if it is a first or second home and what kind of building it is.

[dundrillin]

There is a simple explanation as to why so many properties are unsold..........ridiculously over priced houses the developer want European prices when people are actually looking for reasonable prices

What do you call reasonable? The new villas priced between 7-10 million baht sell very well. They seem to me to be getting a lot for their money ie 3 bedroom detached villa,landscaped gardens, pool and furnished.

[Lost]

There is a simple explanation as to why so many properties are unsold..........ridiculously over priced houses the developer want European prices when people are actually looking for reasonable prices

It might come as a surprise to you, but most houses in Thailand are actually sold to Thai buyers......and I doubt very much, that Thai developers are asking European prices.
The market has slowed down, because of a new law requiring a down payment of at least 5-20 % of the price...depending on if it is a first or second home and what kind of building it is.

Utter garbage. frank1957 is spot on with his opinion regarding slowdown in sales. Greed is being seen through. People trying to make a disgusting markup on the cost of build.

What do you call reasonable? The new villas priced between 7-10 million baht sell very well. They seem to me to be getting a lot for their money ie 3 bedroom detached villa,landscaped gardens, pool and furnished.

All relevant to the cost of build/labour. To build those new villas with landscaped gardens etc yourself will set you back 3-5 million. Is the convenience of having a developer deal with all the little niggles that come with a build worth 75-100k sterling to you. Not for me. Nor most people.

Edit: 1 rai of land within 6-10 mins of Hua Hin downtown. 5 bedroom house. Landscaped garden but no pool. You should not be paying more than 7 million for this (if already built - 4 million if buying land and building yourself). Or, if you're dundrillin, you can get a little bungalow, probably on a fifth of the land size for the same price or more from a developer who is charging double...

[Lost]

I believe Hua Hin is quite unique also [Mod edit: Thai slander laws are real and serious so we cannot publish names regardless of what is true or not.] those in the know won't touch a western estate agent here with a barge pole.

I guess only Pattaya can come close in regards to westerners ripping off other westerners.

Only one guy here really has a good, honest reputation. Have used his services a few times. His name I could drink.

[dundrillin]

Firstly Lost don’t assume you know what I want or can afford!!

Not everybody wants to buy a large house out in the sticks. Many buyers look for a house here intending to stay only part of the year and a villa in a development suits their needs. To buy a plot and get a house built requires a degree of supervision that many are not able to commit to. I have built a few houses in the past and am doing another at present. My experience leads me to suggest we have a different opinion as to what you call little niggles. Some of them can be very big indeed.. Finally construction is by no means the only business with a large markup, I wish it was.

[buksida]

Greed is being seen through. People trying to make a disgusting markup on the cost of build.

This is particularly true in tourist towns such as Hua Hin where, as we have seen in other threads, builders are charging over 24k per square meter compared to half that in other areas where you get closer to the real price of construction in Thailand. We paid 8.5k per sqm six years ago (not in Hua Hin), I know materials have gone up and so have labour rates but a 180% increase is taking the piss.

[Lost]

Firstly Lost don’t assume you know what I want or can afford!!

You're an ex-dentist. I know what you can afford, which is whole lot more than me after spending a lifetime charging 300 quid an hour for a filling.

Not everybody wants to buy a large house out in the sticks.

Ahem I said 6-10 minutes out of central Hua Hin. Like... soi 102, 112 or the same kinda distance going North - not feckin' Isaan.

My experience leads me to suggest we have a different opinion as to what you call little niggles. Some of them can be very big indeed

Indeed, you are right and 'niggles' was not the best choice of word. Hands up who had a right headache when building their houses (all hands up). Hands up if that headache was worth a saving of £75-100k. (apparently not all hands up but most I'd imagine). I'm not saying the markup on all properties is this much but some of the prices that I see round Hua Hin would be hysterical if it wasn't so disgusting.

Poor ol' Bert and Ethel buy their dream retirement home not realising they paid 5-10 million too much. I have seen blatant 10 mil houses trying to be flogged for 20 (fortunately there aren't that many naive people to defraud and they usually just sit there decaying for a couple of years until a realistic price is set).