The company says it expects heightened competition in previously less accessible zones of Bangkok, especially areas along the BTS Light Green Line Extension (Mo Chit-Kukot), MRT Blue Line Extension (Taopoon–Thapra-Hualamphong), MRT Pink Line (Kae Rai–Minburi), MRT Orange Line (Rama 9–Ramkamhaeng), and MRT Yellow Line (Ladprao-Huamak).

Rent and sale prices in those aforementioned areas are foreseen to increase substantially based on a project’s proximity to convenient transport.

“The amount of new supply launched in Bangkok is expected to mount continuously and big-name developers will be key players in the market supported by their solid capital structure, high bargaining power, and innovative amenities that focus more on experiences and future lifestyle,” KFTR said.

“While selling prices in the peripheral is expected to be stable on the back of land abundance and affordable land prices in the areas, prices for future supply in the CBD is anticipated to increase in line with land scarcity and soaring land prices.”

In 2018, more affordable units are expected to enter the market, especially those between Bt3 million to Bt5 million that will continue to draw attention from buyers in the mid-range market segment, KFTR said.

“However, developers should be cautious in starting new projects in the lower-end to middle market segments along new mass transit routes in the suburbs to cushion against the risk of oversupply.

“On the demand front, demand across the market will continue to be driven upwards by domestic home buyers and expatriates. Moreover, one trend that is helping drive demand is an influx of foreign buyers, especially those from China who are looking for a safe place to store their wealth.”

Thanapol Sirithanachai, president of Golden Land Property Development, said the firm in collaboration with Frasers Property, a Singapore-based property company, has

collaboration under the name “Golden Land-Frasers Synergy.” This is aimed at achieving its corporate mission of becoming one of the top five real estate companies in Thailand in terms of revenue by 2020’.

He added that this year, the firm aims to “add value” as its annual strategic business plan focusing on the integration of expertise and management knowledge about developing real estate in Thailand together with international development, investment and management experience from Frasers Property. The collaboration between the companies is growing continuously and is more tangible in the form of co-investment and co-development. The firm will utilise know-how from Frasers Property to develop mixed-use property projects.

The main products for this year are middle class low-rises, including single houses, with units priced at Bt7 million to Bt10 million, semi-detached houses with units priced at Bt4 million to Bt7 million, and townhomes with units priced at Bt2 million to Bt4 million. Moreover, the company expects that Samyan Mitrtown, the mixed-use project development at the Phya Thai-Rama IV intersection, which is under construction, will achieve 60 per cent completion within this year.

“Thailand’s real estate market is still growing, especially middle class low-rise residential developments. We have strengthened our collaboration with Frasers Property Limited, a multi-national company that owns, develops and manages a diverse, integrated portfolio of properties, to expand its knowledge in retail business to an international level,” said the president.

The firm by the end of this year expects to gain revenue of Bt17.8 billion, growing 37 per cent year on year.

“Urban and real estate development in Singapore are globally recognised, specifically commercial developments in the heart of the city. Due to the exorbitant land price, the developers have to maximise land use, which has led to the creation of many interesting innovations in the real restate industry.

“We believe that we can apply those innovations to our project development in Bangkok with an annual average land price growth of around 10-15 per cent. Moreover, other properties such as residential and Grade-A offices are among assets which interest Singaporean investors.

They tend to consider investing in those assets via a Real Estate Investment Trust [REIT]. By integrating the international management know-how in REIT from Frasers Property and applying to Thailand’s business model, it will boost the competency in sustainable growth of Golden Land,” added Thanapol.

Frasers Property’s assets range from residential, retail, commercial and business parks, to industrial and logistics in Singapore, Australia, Europe, China and Southeast Asia. Its well-established hospitality business owns and/or operates serviced apartments and hotels in over 80 cities across Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Frasers Property became a shareholder of Golden Land in 2016, and presently Frasers Property Holdings (Thailand) holds approximately 39.9 per cent of the shares.

The project has a total of 108 units, targeting Japanese and overseas customers interested in owning a condominium unit at the resort, said company’s chief executive officer Chainid Adhyanasakul.

Of the new projects, 12 will be condominiums worth Bt33.5 billion, eight will be single-detached houses worth Bt20.1 billion, while 11 others will be townhouse projects worth Bt9.6 billion.

The company’s investment budget will come from its initial cashflow and the issuance of five-year debenture worth Bt4 billion early this year, with interest rate of 3.35 per cent.

It is part of the company’s efforts to drive its presales to Bt45 billion this year or up 16 per cent from the year 2017. Last year, the developer recorded total presales of Bt38.6 billion, up 24 per cent from the prrevious year, the company’s chief operation officer Uthai Uthaisangsuk said at press conference yesterday..

In the first nine months of 2017, Sansiri reported a total revenue of Bt23.12 billion and a net profit Bt2.04 billion.

He added that for the current year, the company foresees three significant trends – domestic and global economic recovery; changes in consumer behaviour and a new way of living; and technology disruption that represents new opportunities for many businesses.

The company believes that the adaptive ability along with this technology disruption will be winning weapon in becoming the trendsetter of each industry. All these factors contribute to a positive outlook of the property market expansion and spur consumers’ purchasing power. This year, the company will, therefore, focus on offering a wide range of property projects with various impressive services that best address different needs of all customer groups and expanding customer base in Bangkok, provinces and foreign countries.Another important direction for this year is to continue and strengthen partnership with existing and new local and international companies, said Uthai.

Given the market trends, the company targets presales from overseas customers to reach Bt13 billion, a rise of 40 per cent from its overseas presales of Bt9.3 billion last year.

It will focus on Asia markets this year, including Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan, he said.

Meanwhile, the company plans to launch between four to six projects worth between Bt12 billion and Bt19 billion in partnerships with BTS Group Holdings Plc and Tokyu Group.

The company also plans to launch the first Standard Residence and Monocle Residence in Thailand this year, following its investment in The Standard and Monocle last year, Uthai said.

Meanwhile, Sansiri will launch JustCoco-working space in four locations, with the first two at AIA Sathorn in May and another at All Seasons Place in August.

It will offer Sansiri’s customers the privilege of using the services.

Hostmaker will also start its property management services for Sansiri customers which will strengthen Sansiri’s competitive advantage in overseas markets, he said.

This forms part of the company’s drive to achieve full-year presales of Bt45 billion, some 16 per cent higher than the 2017 level.

Sansiri recorded presales of Bt38.6 billion last year, which was 24 per cent higher than what it achieved in 2016, Uthai said.

Prominent locations of super prime and prime residential projects include low to mid Sukhumvit from Asoke to Thonglor, as well as Ploenchit, Chidlom, Sala Daeng, Ratchadamri, Langsuan, Wireless and Sathon Roads, said Frank Khan, executive director and head of residential, Knight Frank Thailand, on Monday.

These areas will remain main development areas for prime and super prime supply because of their convenience and amenities. In terms of unit sizes this year, the upcoming trend seems to be two bedrooms and three bedrooms with a selling price of Bt300,000 per square metre or above, Khan said.

The elevated price reflects the limited supply of land in the CBD and central Sukhumvit areas, he said.

“It is interesting to note that branded super-prime and prime residences utilise very high-end and valued architects, interior designers and branded furniture as well as facilities designers,” he added.

It said the tower at Bitec in Bangkok’s Bang Na district had attracted tenants from various industries, including Siam Commercial Bank, Regus (Thailand), Origin Property, All Inspire Development and KYB Asian Pacific Corp.

“As a pioneer developer of various projects in the Sukhumvit-Bang Na area, I am very pleased that Bhiraj Tower at Bitec has received impressive response,” said Bhiraj Management managing director Pitiphatr Buri.

“I strongly believe that the Sukhumvit-Bang Na area has the potential to become the new commercial hub, as we can see from the rising demand in the area.”

Bhiraj Tower has 29 floors and 32,000 square metres of rentable office space.

They include a luxury residential project on Soi Ruamrudee to be marketed as Leroy Ruamrudee. Three projects are under the ‘Walden brand, in the Sukhumvit-Thonglor area. The fifth project is in North Pattaya.

The launches are part of a drive by the company to achieve presales of Bt3 billion this year, up 20 per cent from last year. Up to 30 per cent of total sales will come from foreign buyers when the company plans to roadshow its products in an international campaign, he said.