[B]The property market remains upbeat as the number of newly registered housing units continue to skyrocket.

One of Quality Houses’ Q Twelve offerings.

A total of 125,000 new registrations are expected this year, a 15-year high.

Amid concerns about the high potential of a real estate glut, the Bank of Thailand recently cautioned housing developers to beware of oversupply, particularly of condominiums along skytrain routes, and potential mortgage defaults by homebuyers.

Lenders have also tightened their mortgage criteria by cutting loan-to-value ratios to prevent speculation in the wake of high household debt. But that has not yet cooled down the property market, which enjoyed a post-crisis high for new registrations last year and is on track for another record this year.

Samma Kitsin, director-general of the Real Estate Information Center, said the numbers are being boosted mainly by the condominium sector.

This is a result of the boom in new high-rise residential units in line with the mass transit expansion.

In the first half of this year, newly registered housing units in Greater Bangkok totalled 57,300, up by 7% year-on-year. Newly registered condo units numbered 31,500, down by 2% from the same period last year and 55% of the total number. But the number townhouses and shophouses increased to 6,600 (11.5% of the total) and 5,100 (8.9% of the total), respectively.

The number of newly registered single houses fell by 11% to 13,500 units or 23.6% of the total, but the decline is in line with that of new project launches.

The property units transferred in the first half stood at 76,800, up by 4%, for a value of 185 billion baht. Condominium units came in first in terms of transfers at 28,800, representing 37.5% of the total transferred and worth 61.3 billion baht.

Meanwhile, the Agency for Real Estate Affairs said the most expensive housing project in Greater Bangkok averages 127 million baht a unit and is developed by the SET-listed Quality Houses (QH).

It surveyed property prices and found the highest priced to be the Q Twelve project in the Ratchaphruek area comprising only 12 two-storey single houses on plots sized from 287 square wah and a total project value of 1.51 billion baht.

One-third of the project has been sold, leaving eight units available.

Rutt Phanijphand, QH’s president and chief executive, since Q Twelve’s sales have been slow, the company has shifted to the middle-income segment or 3-4 million baht a unit.

The second-highest single house prices can be found at Granada Pinklao, located in western Bangkok and averaging 82.3 million baht.

The 3.54-billion-baht project belongs to SC Asset Corporation, the Shinawatra family’s property development arm.

So far only 19 of the houses have been sold, leaving 22 available.

The third most dearest can be found at The Royal Residence developed by TCC CapitaLand Co, a property firm belonging to the tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, with unit prices of 49.6 million baht.

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Writer: Kanana Katharangsiporn
Position: Business Reporter

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