High Demand and Good Value for Bangkok Low-Rise Condos

Interest in Sukhumvit area low-rise condos remains solid with real estate purchasers, foreigners and investors who are buying for rentals, as prices are more agreeable than units in high-rise projects, say local developers.

Newly launched low-rise condos prices are lower than high-rise project because of lower land costs, said Chanin Vanijwongse, chief executive of residential developer Habitat Group.

"High-rise condo developments require large plots, which means higher land costs," he said. "Plots for high-rise buildings in the Sukhumvit area are usually on main roads, as they are wider than alleys."

On the main road from Nana to Thong Lor skytrain stations land plots are priced at least 2 million baht per square wah. Because of this, newly launched condos on these plots start from 250,000 to 350,000 baht per square meter

Construction cost of low-rise buildings is lower than high-rises. That coupled with the cheaper land plots on sois makes sales prices of these low-rises lower.

According to Habitat’s market research, condos near the Asok skytrain station have an average price of 271,000 baht per sqm. Phrom Phong station location prices average 270,000 baht per sqm and 244,000 baht per sqm for condos near Nana station.

Prices were collected from 17 projects launched in the past four years, of which 15 were high-rise buildings.

"We remain focused on low-rise developments to launch with units priced lower than high-rise projects. This will help us avoid stiff competition in the market," he said.

New condos launched this year on Sukhumvit Sois 31 and 39 will be 80% high-rise buildings.   Because of this, Habitat plans to launch two low-rise projects under the Walden brand.   These projects will be worth a combined 1.75 billion baht, in the third and fourth quarters.

One of the projects will be an eight-storey tower and located on a 322-sqw plot on Sukhumvit Soi 39.   It will have 116 units sized from 34.55 sqm and worth 950 million baht.    The units will be priced lower than 200,000 baht per sqm.

The second project will be situated on Sukhumvit Soi 31. It is expected to have around 100 units worth 800 million baht and is scheduled to launch by the end of the year. Habitat expects to have 1.5 billion baht in presales from both sites.

Targeted buyers will be investors buying for rent and foreigners from China, Singapore and Hong Kong. Foreigners are expected to purchase 49% of these units, with 80% of that from China and Hong Kong.

Investors buying condos for rent prefer Sukhumvit Soi 39, as Japanese expats are the leading tenants. Rental rates in this area run about 1,000 baht per sqm per month.

Condos in the On Nut area are attracting investors, as the rental yield is 9.5% per year, according to Poomipak Julmanichoti, executive vice-president for project development and international business development at SET-listed developer Sansiri Plc

The Base Sukhumvit 50 is going to be launched by Sansiri. This is a joint venture with Tokyu Corporation, a major private Japanese railway firm. Located on Sukhumvit Soi 50, near On Nut skytrain station, this eight-storey condo will have 415 units worth 1.6 billion baht.

"We suggest buyers prepare around 20% of unit prices and have pre-approval from banks to prevent being rejected for mortgages," he said.