According to the Real Estate Information Center (REIC), Chonburi (the province where Pattaya is located) surpassed Bangkok in transferring ownership of condominiums to foreign buyers in the first quarter of 2023. After Bangkok held a leading position from 2018 to 2022, it was overtaken by Chonburi, which now claims 42.4% of the market compared to 37.7% in Bangkok. It was reported that among the top five countries with the highest transfer of ownership of apartments (China, USA, UK and Germany), buyers from Burma purchased the most expensive apartments, while buyers from India reportedly purchased the largest apartments in condominiums.
The transfer of ownership rights to apartments in condominiums to foreigners increased to 15.9% of the number of units and 24.3% of the total value of real estate. At the same time, the most popular properties still remained in the group at a price not exceeding 3 million baht.
The opening of the country and the normalization of economic activity in different countries of the world have become the main reasons for the increase in the number of foreigners buying housing in Thailand. And Thailand's tourism industry continues to recover. This is an important positive factor that helps to increase the number of units, the cost and area of apartments that foreigners buy.
Foreigners buy ready-made condominiums and apartments of the secondary market. As a result, the share of units transferred to foreign ownership increased to 15.9% from just 10.6% in 2022, and the share of the cost of transferring foreign ownership rights to condominiums increased to 24.3% from 19.5% in 2022.
In Q1 2023, a review of the situation with the transfer of ownership of apartments in condominiums to foreigners in the country showed that both the number of units and their cost increased significantly. 3,775 residential units of foreign property were registered throughout the country, which is 79.2% more than in the same period last year. This is a steady increase since Q2 2022.