The International Consulting Company has noted several key trends in the Kingdom’s real estate market, with buyers becoming more selective than ever and sellers being forced to adapt to rapidly changing conditions.
In general, the economy indicates that the Central Bank of Thailand forecasts GDP growth of 3.4%. However, everything depends on the export sectors of industry and tourism sectors, which attract both temporary and permanent residents to the country.
The first two quarters of 2022 will be crucial for the Thai economy, including the real estate market, and whether 2022 will be successful or unsuccessful depends on the government's actions due to Omicron.
The low rate of sale of apartments in condominiums is forecast in the residential segment of the property. New projects and sales will be evaluated carefully, as the market relies on domestic demand and does not have a broad category of economic speculators from abroad. Affordability will remain a key feature of residential property.
In the office real estate segment, office spaces continue to be revalued. The country operates on a hybrid system: part of the population works locally, another — remotely. Nobody knows what awaits the classic office property in the new employment system. Most of the real estate will not fit in the market. New real estate will be in high demand, while the old one will become cheaper and abandoned.
The retail segment suffered the most from COVID-19. It will have to adapt and overcome the difficulties and limitations. It will be popular in leasing: conditions, terms, and rates. The largest business will survive the shocks and slowly recover. The fate of small and medium-sized businesses is vague and uncertain. This will dictate the demand for real estate.
Industrial and logistics real estate will be under state control, severe pandemic pressure, and international restrictions. In this situation, both sellers and buyers will conclude lease and sale agreements predetermined in advance.
Hotels and resort properties will have to rely on improving the situation with COVID-19 and invent more and more promotional campaigns and discount shares to maintain their survival. State initiatives can help in this situation, as shown by the Phuket Sandbox program, which increased the daily influx of tourists to Phuket in December by 5.5 times. However, external support cannot save the market segment forever. Currently, customer demand is low, and prices are affordable. Domestic tourism will be the source of revenue until the end of 2022.