Koh Samui, Thailand – Real Estate Investment Opportunities
Koh Samui, Thailand continues to offer exciting options for potential property investors. Since most real estate in Thailand is bought with cash, as it is almost impossible to obtain bank financing, the underlying valuation of the property and land is maintained, although due to the fact that the majority of investors are foreign investors with a asset portfolio, there are now some good prospects for those with investment capital who are ready to consider increasing their property portfolio.
In the medium term, this island and the top 10 holiday destinations continue to be a favorite investment center for hotels and spas of the main brands. Conrad Hotel and the recently opened Ibis are among several being built as this tropical island continues to grow in popularity. There are also several luxury villa resorts being planned by major real estate companies, who see a bright future in the luxury destination market. Popular destinations such as Chaweng, Cheong Mon and Bophut continue to attract vacationers from around the world, despite recent political troubles in Thailand.
The ongoing global financial crisis of late 2008 has provided opportunities for property buyers as several sellers are forced to lower the price to make a sale in these difficult conditions. There are several options available, both new off-plan and resale properties that now offer buyers significant cost advantages. The market now approaching peak season is fairly flat, with bargain properties appearing as seller discounts to stimulate interest.
We are seeing discounts of up to 40% on some resale units where the owner is looking to quickly free up cash on a property. A specific example of this is a newly completed four-bedroom villa in Bang Makham, originally listed for 25 million Thai baht (US$715,000), which has been discounted for a quick sale to just over 15 million baht. Thai (US$429,000).
Developers are realizing that in order to maintain and promote sales they need to offer special discounted prices to offset the strong gains of the Thai baht against a large number of currencies (example: the British pound has fallen from 63 to 51 Thai baht since September 2008, a drop of almost 20%). Developers and creative sellers are also promoting by adding some creative financing plans, sometimes including extended payment terms over 3 years. Others offer longer terms of up to 10 years on private finance agreements with down payments of 40-50% of the total purchase price.
Examples of specific special promotions are new prices introduced by Samui Emerald Condominium In Plai Laem, Koh Samui, where they are actively promoting their premium product through rental unit sales, a fully equipped 44sqm unit can be purchased for just over GBP 50,000 (2,640,000 baht). Thai) at the time of writing this article. The foreign buyer in this case would need to set up a Thai company to purchase one of these specialty units.
Take a look at Koh Samui, Thailand while the market has some exciting opportunities available for the savvy investor.