Mr. Prapansak Rakchivan, Managing Director of Lumpini Wisdom, a real estate research and development company that is part of the LPN Group, spoke about the problems of utility rates after the COVID era.
In general, the rate on utilities for housing worth less than 5 million baht is usually stable. This is the result of fierce competition, because this is a massive segment of the market.
The segment you should pay attention to is residential projects over 5 million baht. There is a tendency to increase the collection by an average of 20% compared to the era before COVID. This is expected because it is a price group in which consumers have a high purchasing power. In addition, the design and size of the room are expensive. As a result, developers and management companies reduce utility fees to retain customers.
According to the results of the LPN Wisdom survey, it was found that the average utility fee in condominiums, ranging from 1 million baht per unit to no more than 5 million baht, tends to decrease.
Compared to the COVID era in 2020-2021, utility bills were in the amount of 34-58 baht/sq.m. In the post-bubble era in 2022-2023, they decreased by 5-6% to 32-55 baht/sq.m..
While in apartments priced at 5 million baht or more, in the COVID era utility bills were 71-92 baht per square meter. Recently, after the COVID era, new projects completed in 2022-2023 require an increase in fees by 18-20%, on average at the level of 84-110 baht per square meter.
While the average total rate for single houses, duplexes and townhouses (cost up to 10 million baht) in the Covid era was in the amount of 30-40 baht/ sq.m. (calculated depending on the size of the land). Recently, the post-bubble era has lowered the ceiling to 28-36 baht/sq.m.vach or decrease by 6-10%.
As in the case of luxury mansions worth more than 20 million baht, in the COVID era, the fee was set at 81 baht/sq. m. Recently, in the post-covid era, it has decreased by 20% to 60 baht / sq.
Premium segment townhouses at a price of 5-10 million baht are a segment in which the fee is stable and amounts to 51-52 baht per square meter during 2020-2023.