Foreign demand lifts prices in Hua Hin

[buksida]

Land rates rise 30 per cent a year with buyers from outside Thailand eyeing property in the district.

With developers expanding investment in Hua Hin in response to strong demand from foreign buyers, land prices in the district have been rising at a rate of 30 per cent a year.

Property companies have poured Bt20 billion into projects in Hua Hin over the past year. This has driven up prices of land close to the beach from between Bt5 million and Bt8 million per rai last year to the present Bt10 million per rai.

Land prices in Hua Hin have been rising at a rate of 30 per cent every year with foreigners showing interest in buying property in the district, Supharat Group managing director Sumeth Sukapanpotharam said.

Most of the foreign investors are looking to buy a second home, he said. Earlier, the district attracted mainly local or Bangkok-based buyers looking to buy a second house or a vacation home.

Hua Hin is just an hour-and-a-half's ride away from Bangkok.

But now, more foreign buyers are showing interest in projects in the district and that has driven up the price of both land and residential projects, Sumeth said.

Supharat Group is developing a luxury, detached-housing project, Pran-A-Luxe, worth Bt660 million in the district.

Blue Lotus Hua Hin (Thailand), a joint venture between Thai and Dutch investors led by Han Hakvoort, is developing The Banyan, a Bt8-billion project on 2,000 rai of land at Hua Hin. Hakvoort is the managing director of Blue Lotus Hua Hin.

The Banyan offers an 18-hole golf course, 186 villas, a four-storey condominium building with 202 units and a shopping mall.

The prices of the villas range from Bt4.5 million to Bt30 million. Prices of the condominiums start at Bt6,000 per square metre.

The demand for residential projects in Hua Hin has seen strong growth because of its peaceful environs and easy accessibility, Hakvoort said.

Many listed developers have also been expanding investment in residential projects in Hua Hin. For instance, Sansiri launched a Bt2.06-billion project, Baan Sansuk, in the first half of the year and has sold 80 per cent of the project value.

Major Development is planning a new luxury-condominium project worth Bt3 billion in Hua Hin.

Research by Colliers International Thailand has shown the demand for residential projects in Hua Hin registering strong growth.

The demand has shifted from local and middle market to foreign and middle to upper market, the company said.

The strong demand over the past two years has jacked up prices of residential projects in Hua Hin from between Bt45,000 and Bt50,000 per square metre to between Bt66,000 and Bt80,000.

At a glance
-- Prices of land close to the Hua Hin beach have risen from between Bt5 million and Bt8 million a rai to Bt10 million.

-- The strong demand over the past two years has jacked up prices of residential projects.

-- The prices have risen from between Bt45,000 and Bt50,000 per square metre to between Bt66,000 and Bt80,000 per square metre.

Source: The Nation

Thought: Reads like a sales pitch to me ... 'Dodo' is how I'd describe the current property market in Hua Hin.

[STEVE G]

That article reads like it was written by someone, or for someone who bought a swathe of Hua Hin about a year ago and was expecting to make 30% a year for a while.

[caller]

It seems like similar reports are churned out from time to time regarding various locations. My first thought on reading the above, was that it is an old article. I actually looked at the link to check it wasn't.

And good luck to all if that is the case, it probably makes it fairly unique in the World at the moment.

[ozuncle]

Yes, there is always a lot of negativity about property prices in Hua Hin but I see no reason why this article is being criticised.
Land, especially beachside close to amenities, is becoming rarer so why wouldnt the price be rising?
When we falang come here to by a house we are generally swayed by our partners to buy a new house rather than used. And why not if we can afford it.
Also I think Thais are a little scared to invest in a second hand house for fear of why it is for sale. Maybe someone died there so maybe ghosts.
This all means that land is in demand.
On top of this, we all agree that inflation is a big problem these days so building material and labour costs are rising.

The big problem with this is that if we ever want to sell our houses there is no demand unless you are lucky or have a VERY desirable location.

Just my opinion. Maybe the professionals in the business will correct me.

[Super Joe]

I think that the trouble with an article like that during a slow period is it smacks of trying to talk up the market, whether correct or not. I wouldn't have bothered if I were them.
We've all seen what land prices have done over the past few years and the Thai's attitude is if the land next to their's was worth 1M/rai last year their's is worth 1.3/1.4M this year. We know Thai's will wait forever to get the price they want and if they don't need the cash they should wait. The land's worth to the owner is not neccesarily the current market value. Because of this I don't see there will be big price drops unless the market crashes.

The second hand market is likely to be slow until new development, say upto 5-7 km's away is all but over. Whilst there are brand new houses available its natural that people prefer the chance to have a new one, they also get to choose the finishes that they like.
There are some people, maybe out of concern about developers here, who will only take a second hand house.
The other thing that may be affecting the second hand market is the owners seem to value them high. Sellers I've seen ask more for their second hand houses than their developer is asking for the same house on the next phase. If they were offering them a bit cheaper, or the same price but furnished, it may help.

SJ

[dtaai-maai]

The other thing that may be affecting the second hand market is the owners seem to value them high. Sellers I've seen ask more for their second hand houses than their developer is asking for the same house on the next phase. SJ

Maybe because many of them have had to spend a year or two and a lot of money correcting the original faults.

[Super Joe]

Our customers find a total re-build from scratch as the most practical option Dtaii-Maii

SJ

[dtaai-maai]

[sandman67]

yeah yeah yeah.....and in 6 months when the EU/American property crash really kicks in, combined with another 6 months of completely ineffective Sadsak govt handling of the Thai economy we will see who is smiling....... read the Times and Indy today, both of them reporting a big house price fall again in the UK.

one more thing on beachfront land.......after the big wave I wouldn't live down there....the asian plates seem to be active as ever..... dont fancy a salt water swimming pool for a front lawn.

[crazy88]

Oh dear

I did have a witty reply to post but my mother has just started doing some sort of witchcraft healing on one of the soi dogs .Can't really burn her at the stake now can I .

Did you enjoy the mayo BTW sandman ?

Crazy 88

[heretostay]

As we all know land is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it.

If your thinking of buying look at the prices on this website, BAM.

Bangkok Asset management, they deal in repossed land etc, They also give the land dept advice on real land prices, they have a office in pranburi.

one example. land in hua hin, 50 sqw,= 12,000 baht.

I seen an advert a while ago soi 126, land 600k for 1 rai, next minute the developer selling houses there stating the land prices are 3m per rai.

whos fooling who.

http://www.bam-amc.com

you can do a search in english and scroll down to hua hin.

read and weep

[JimmyGreaves]

1 1/2 hours to Hua Hin?

[hhfarang]

I was wondering about that same statement... I've done the trip many times and the best ever with the pedal to the metal and no traffic I managed it in about two hours. What kind of rocket sled does this guy have?

[PET]

Can somebody give the conversions for Rai, Sqw and Sqm

[T.I.G.R.]

An imaginary rocket sled.

My best time from Soi Aree 6 near Vichiyut Hospital to Cha Am is two hours flat......good luck getting to Hua Hin alive in 1.5 hours.

We've had a nice two rai fairway lot at Lakeview on the market for over a year......not a sniff, which wasn't totally unexpected. I had hoped to build a home there one day but since moving here have given up on that possibility in my lifetime.

As an American with a nice home on the market for the past two plus years I can tell you there is no relief in sight.....might be another two to three years before real estate comes back. U.K. seems to be right behind us, and the rest of the world coming on strong.

With the oil situation the way it is prices are going up everywhere and are likely to keep going up. We were watching CNN the other night and they showed some of the problems people are having already in Hawaii.......five dollars for a loaf of bread! Yikes.

Last night was listening to more saber rattling about Iran. Thank God Bush only has six months left to go......I just hope he isn't stupid enough to start something before he leaves office; that is if they haven't already been messing around "covertly", which according to the article they have.

All in all, looks like some tough times ahead for everyone......