by kevinyeo | Mar 13, 2018 | News
CENTRAL Pattana Plc (CPN), the largest retail real estate developer in Thailand and operator of CentralPlaza WestGate, has announced that ‘CentralPlaza WestGate, ’ the super regional mall in Southeast Asia, has formed a partnership with IKEA, the world’s top furniture brand.
The largest IKEA store, with a new design, will open on March 15 in Watergate. CPN is investing over Bt120 million in marketing budget to create ‘Expand Happiness – Have a Big Life’ campaign, supporting the growth and urbanised lifestyle in the Bang Yai/WestGate area, which is fast on its way to becoming the ‘West Business District’ (WBD), hoping to attract customer traffic of over 100,000 people per day to the shopping centre and the IKEA store.
Nattakit Tangpoonsinthana, CPN’s executive vice president/marketing, said CPN is committed to continuing the development of its shopping centres at high potential locations nationwide.
Bangkok and its suburbs remain the prime strategic locations, and intense competition can be seen. CPN sees the opportunities to penetrate into these high potential locations.
“We are the first major retailer to have developed mega projects in both eastern and western Bangkok as we foresaw the trend of urban growth spreading from the heart of the city to its outskirts. Today, our mega projects have achieved significant success. The most obvious example is CentralPlaza WestGate, the ultimate super regional mall in Southeast Asia, which is the best destination for everyone in the family and the largest gateway for western Bangkok. Today, if someone mentions the word ‘WestGate’, most people will think of Bang Yai and of us,” he said.
“The WestGate area has become a prime location, with great capacity in various aspects such as urbanisation, the size of the local population, purchasing power, over 40,000 residential project units, the government’s infrastructure projects and transport networks etc. Upon the arrival of IKEA Bangyai at CentralPlaza Westgate, CPN has been talking about plans to cooperate with IKEA since the start of the CentralPlaza WestGate development. It is a great honour that IKEA, the world-class furniture brand, has chosen to develop its best and newest design store to connect with our shopping centre. The new IKEA store is not only the largest and the latest design in Thailand, it is also the biggest IKEA store in Southeast Asia, with a total area of over 50,000 m2. It includes eight entrances and exits (connecting to CentralPlaza WestGate on three floors), with a total of 29 checkpoints located on every floor for shopping convenience. Convenient transportation connects all routes together: the MRT Purple Line, buses, a pier, the ring road, expressway and motorway. In addition, our shopping centre and IKEA both have parking areas that can accommodate each other’s customers.” Nattakit added.
He said that the partnership between CentralPlaza WestGate and IKEA Bangyai is creating the phenomenon of ‘Big Bang Magnets’ as each is a magnet with the potential to complement each other in three major aspects:
First, expanding target customer groups: the main customers of CentralPlaza WestGate and IKEA are families and the new IKEA store will help to attract more working people and modern-lifestyle teenagers. It will also widen the catchment area to cover upto 13 million target customers in Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Ayutthaya, Nakhon Pathom and Suphan Buri;
Second, CentralPlaza WestGate is outstanding in fulfilling all the needs and lifestyles of its customers as a ‘Center of Life’ that offers an extensive range of products and services. The arrival of IKEA will further extend the continuity of the seamless shopping experience through connecting points between the two shopping venues and customer journeys that complement each other. The customers can spend time, eat, drink and entertain themselves and continue on to look for home products and furniture shopping all on one trip.
Third, CPN will introduce the ‘Expand Happiness – Have a Big Life’ campaign to further complement its concept, which encourages everyone to ‘Have a Big Life’. CPN is holding special promotions together with IKEA by bringing signature events that will be held at the IKEA Bangyai opening ceremony to join CPN in the campaign. One such event is ‘Ninja Maze…The Big Adventure Presented by EST COLA’.
source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/Real_Estate/30340786
by kevinyeo | Mar 13, 2018 | News
Location and land cost are key factors to develop condominium projects in inner Bangkok, which are attractive to investment buyers as they provide good rental yields and capital gains, says property developer Habitat Group.
Chief executive Chanin Vanijwongse said locations should be popular among foreigners as they are the target tenants, citing areas like Asok, Phrom Phong, and Thong Lor, where Japanese and Europeans prefer to stay.
“Investment buyers usually look for yields and capital gains when buying a condominium unit,” he said. “If a project’s location can draw foreign tenants, the rental yield will be more attractive.”
While location should be attractive, land cost should be low to offer an interesting sales price for an attractive capital gain down the line. The best price range for a condominium unit in inner Bangkok should be lower than 200,000 baht per square meter.
Mr Chanin said while land plots on main roads are generally more attractive than those on sois, they also have higher land prices.
“With lower selling prices, a condominium unit on a soi will have more room to grow, compared with that on the main road,” he said. “But locations should be within walking distance of mass transit stations.”
Property consultant Colliers International Thailand said the take-up rate of condominium units priced between 200,001-250,000 baht per sqm was 80%, the highest in the market at the end of 2017. That was followed by condominium units priced between 150,000-200,000 baht per sqm, which had a take-up rate of 70%.
Habitat surveyed eight newly-launched condominium projects in locations from Asok to Phrom Phong and found those where average unit prices were below 200,000 baht per sqm had a take-up rate of over 80%.
Among five BTS stations from Nana to Ekamai, Thong Lor saw the highest take-up rate of 95% or 2,079 units sold from a total supply of 2,182 units. The average selling price in Thong Lo was 250,000 baht per sqm.
Next was Asoke, where the take-up rate was 83% or 2,077 units sold from a total of 2,488. Phrom Phong came third with 82% or 2,173 units sold from a total of 2,652 units. The average prices were 238,000 and 250,000 baht per sqm, respectively.
In Ekamai, the take-up rate was 75% or 860 units sold from 1,147 units, with an average price of 155,000 baht per sqm. The take-up rate in Nana area was 70% or 921 units sold from 1,316 units, with an average price of 244,000 baht per sqm.
Meanwhile, Habitat, a Pattaya-based developer, will launch its second project in Bangkok, Walden Asoke, with 83 units priced 190,000 baht per sqm on average.
source: https://property.bangkokpost.com/news/1427151/location-and-land-cost-remain-key-factors
by kevinyeo | Mar 12, 2018 | News
The land windfall tax is expected to help fend off a property market bubble as developers take care to avoid tax liabilities that will come into effect if the value of unsold residential units exceeds 50 million baht.
The tax should compel property developers to be more cautious in assessing market demand, said a source at the Finance Ministry.
A draft bill on the land windfall tax, now under consideration by the Fiscal Policy Office, capped the ceiling at 5% of the inflated price, but the applicable rate will be decided later.
Those liable for the tax must own land within a radius of five kilometers of a station serving high-speed, double-track or electric trains, or of the on- or off-ramp of an expressway. Those who own plots within 5km of building-restricted zones such as airports or ports will also be required to pay the tax.
Landlords whose land value is inflated will be charged the land windfall tax every time ownership is transferred from the time when the transport infrastructure project’s contract is signed until the project’s completion.
Once transport projects begin operations, those owning land for residential and agricultural purposes will not be liable to pay the tax, while those who have land for commercial use and whose value is higher than 50 million baht will be subject to the tax upon ownership transfer.
Only property developers for which the leftover units of their projects are valued in excess of 50 million baht will be taxed in the event that land ownership is transferred after the launch of an infrastructure project.
For condominiums, the tax base will be the difference between the sale price and valuation on the effective date of the law. For new or under-construction units, the valuation will be 20% of the average valuation of condominiums in the same area.
But a one-time tax will be applied to cases where land ownership is transferred after a transport infrastructure project starts. That means other landlords on plots for which the tax has been paid will no longer be subject to the tax.
Owners of land near infrastructure projects launched before the land windfall tax take effect will be exempt from the levy.
The Finance Ministry source said a property developer working on more than one project in the same area may be taxed less for the second or third project than for the first one to create a fair tax payment system, as such developers would have already paid the land windfall tax.
For instance, the first project could be taxed at 3% and the second one at 1%.
But the second project could be charged at the same rate as the first if the government determines that its unit prices are higher on account of infrastructure project development, the source said.
source: https://property.bangkokpost.com/news/1426547/windfall-tax-likely-to-deflate-property-bubble
by kevinyeo | Mar 8, 2018 | News
The residential, office, retail and logistics sectors will continue to be robust this year thanks to the country’s economic growth and the upbeat global outlook, says property consultant CBRE Thailand.
Managing director Aliwassa Pathnadabutr said new condominium launches in Greater Bangkok this year will rise by 10-15% from 64,000 units last year because of strong confidence in the Thai economy among consumers and developers.
The main contributors to the Thai economy are exports and tourism. Last year the country finished with 3.9% year-on-year GDP expansion, resulting from 9.9% growth in exports.
The tourism sector, which accounted for 20% of the country’s GDP, saw a record 35.4 million arrivals, a rise of 8.6% from 2016.
“Technology and diversification will be key trends in the property market this year,” she said. “Local developers have diversified to other sectors like offices, hotels, and retail, not focusing only on residential development.”
Many developers over the last two years have shifted to the high-end segment from the middle-to lower-end markets. This trend drove the growth of 51% in newly launched high-end residential supply last year to 12,544 units, up from 8,321.
Middle-to lower-priced condo supply saw a rise of 18% from 43,800 to 51,700, while the overall market grew 23% to 64,200 units.
“Continuing growth of new condo supply in the high-end segment will not cause oversupply, as such projects will be in inner city locations and on a smaller scale than those in the middle-to lower-priced segment,” she said.
But soaring land costs will drive selling prices of new condo supply in the high-end market, which CBRE estimates to be 285,000 baht per square meter on average, up from 270,208 last year, a rise of 9.2% year-on-year.
The highest price was in riverside locations at 321,750 baht, followed by Sukhumvit (255,954) and Silom-Sathon (233,583).
Resale high-end condo prices increased 7.4% to 213,194 baht, with the highest price in the Silom-Sathon area (229,496), followed by Lumpini or Lang Suan-Wireless-Phloenchit (215,729) and Sukhumvit (194,357).
Last year CBRE sold 900 condo units worth a combined 17 billion baht, rising from 15 billion in 2016. Some 561 units were in the high-end segment, with 25% bought by foreigners, up from 22% in 2016.
The largest portion of buyers was from China at 28%, followed by Hong Kong (14%), Singapore (8%) and France and Britain (6% each).
“Foreigners came as property investment buyers and partners in joint ventures with local developers. Both groups will come in higher numbers this year as Thai property prices are lower than other countries and banks remain more cautious about project lending,” she said.
From 2013-17, more than 70% of joint ventures were with Japanese partners. This trend is projected to continue, with 73% of partners from Japan, 18% from Singapore and 3% each from Chinese, American and Hong Kong.
In the office sector, demand will remain strong, with key drivers comprising e-commerce, tech firms and online business, co-working space operators and banks.
There will be at least four international co-working space operators that plan to open their first locations in Thailand with a combined 18,000 sqm of office building space in Bangkok’s central business district (CBD) this year.
Two of the co-working spaces are from Singapore — The Great Room and JustCo — and one each will be available from serviced office operator Regus and a US firm.
But key challenges in the office sector include the large quantity of new supply being completed, with 1.48 million sqm in the pipeline from 2020-23. About 800,000 sqm will be in the CBD.
“In the future, it will change from a landlord market to a tenant market,” said Nithipat Tongpun, CBRE’s head of advisory and transaction services.
“To be competent, office landlords should focus more on collaborative spaces to attract millennial talents, not just locations near mass transit lines and others with attractive rental rates,” said Mr. Nithipat.
With the economic recovery and growing consumer confidence, new retail supply exceeding 300,000 sqm is projected to be completed this year.
source: https://property.bangkokpost.com/news/1424159/economic-tailwinds-buoy-sector
by kevinyeo | Mar 8, 2018 | News
The Real Estate Information Center (REIC) says the vacant land price index in Greater Bangkok last year was 165.6, a gain of 65.6 points from 2012, the base year, and increase of 13.2% from 2016.
The highest increase in land prices was 14.9% in 2013, while the lowest increase was 4.6% in 2016.
In the fourth quarter of 2017, the vacant land price index in Greater Bangkok was 168.3, a rise of 1.1% from the third quarter and 12.5% year-on-year.
Mass transit lines and land use depending on city zones have an impact on land price.
The announcement of a mass transit line makes land prices rise 24.6% on average. For any change in zoning regulations, land prices increase by 22.8% on average.
The top five areas with the highest increase in land prices during 2012-17 were located along the MRT route with a rise of 173.7% or 29% a year on average, followed by the Dark Red Line between Bang Sue and Hua Lamphong with a rise of 169.5% or 28.2% a year.
The area with the third-highest increase in land price was along the Gold Line between Thon Buri to Pracha Thippok with an increase of 148.9% or 24.8% a year.
The fourth-highest rise was in locations along the Green Line (Mor Chit-Saphan Mai-Khu Khot) with a rise of 148.1% or 24.7% a year.
The fifth was in locations along the Dark Red Line between Bang Sue and Rangsit with a 144% rise or 24.1% a year.
The REIC conducts quarterly surveys of vacant land prices based on land transactions at the Lands Department.
The most recent data was from land transferred to companies, as declared prices were mostly actual prices. Land transferred to individuals is usually declared at lower than the actual price.
source: https://property.bangkokpost.com/news/1418419/reic-bangkoks-vacant-plot-prices-rise-13-2-
