Pattaya Property Report
It is hard to believe that yet another month has passed, and of course another year. In that regard, a happy, prosperous New Year to everyone. The hope shared by many is that 2011 will bring with it a significant improvement in the global economic outlook as recovery gathers pace. In local terms, it would be very nice to see increased activity in the property market.
The early signs are relatively promising and it is certainly fair to say that we have seen increased numbers of serious inquiries in the early days of the new year. However, as I have mentioned previously, that is only to be expected, given that it is high season and once the festive period ends it is entirely typical for the real estate market to be busier than in the lead up to and during Christmas/New Year. It is still far too early to say with any degree of confidence whether this will be a better year than 2010.
It is certainly positive that we continue to come across some extremely good deals, which by any standards are genuine bargains. New price reductions which really stand out this month include a huge four bed, five bath home on a big (roughly 1,000 square metres) walled and gated plot in a popular gated community. The garden contains a generously proportioned private pool. While a bit of decoration is needed, as the place hasn't been lived in for a while, and the garden needs tidying up, these are only aesthetic and thus relatively minor issues. Accordingly, the asking price of 5.29m Baht represents absolutely incredible value.
Another property that also stands out is a large three bed, two bath detached home on a good sized walled and gated plot (about 550 square metres), once again in a nice gated community. While it doesn't have its own private swimming pool, it does sit right next to a very nice, very quiet communal pool. The house has over 230 square metres of living space. Accordingly, it is very spacious and very nice inside, so the price of 3.39m Baht is again a true bargain.
As I have been writing, another price reduction that is very worthy of note has just come in. This is a large, luxurious and extremely well built house adjoining Phoenix golf and country club. It has 434 square metres of living space, 4 en-suite bedrooms which have hardwood floors and a large landscaped garden with a private swimming pool. It is an absolutely gorgeous, new house that has not yet been lived in. When it was first listed for sale, the asking price was 20m Baht. It is now available for only 6.9m Baht and represents outrageously good value for money.
On the condo front, just yesterday the price of an extremely nice two bed, one bath unit right in the heart of Jomtien was reduced by over half a million Baht. This unit has 74 square metres of living space and is done out extremely nicely. Moreover, it is a foreign quota unit. So the new asking price of only 2.4m Baht (just over 32,000 Baht per square metre) in a nice development which is only two or three years old, is a steal.
I have been genuinely shocked that the 105 square metre, 2 bed/bath condo unit in the high luxury development that I mentioned last month has still not been sold. We have had several inquiries about it, but no-one has yet bought it, which astonishes me. It is an absolutely gorgeous unit, in the foreign quota, and fully furnished to an exceptionally high standard. Until recently it was rented out for 50,000 Baht per month. Yet, no-one has yet snapped it up for the 4.2m Baht asking price. Truly amazing.
During the last couple of weeks I spent a few days down in New Zealand for a friend's wedding. The place is just as beautiful as I remember from previous visits. However, since I was last there, around a dozen years ago, it is fair to say that the cost of living has increased very significantly, which, from the perspective of a foreign visitor, is exacerbated by the increased value of the New Zealand dollar. Once again it served to reinforce, to my mind at least, just how reasonable the cost of living is here in Thailand relative to many other places around the globe.
Of course, cost of living alone is not reason enough to justify living somewhere. However, when you also consider the quality of life, the weather, the relative safety, so on and so forth of living in Thailand, and in particular in an area such as Pattaya, with its large ex-pat communities and the infrastructure that serves us so well, there are a lot of good reasons for considering living here. This is perhaps especially true for those individuals looking to retire. I know of at least one elderly Western couple who decided to move to Thailand principally for financial reasons and I don't think their reasoning can be faulted.
A significant proportion of their wealth was held in a house, their home, in the UK. Although they loved the place, they figured that, with inheritance tax being as it is, once they were gone, the house would have had to be sold anyway to cover the tax. Accordingly, they decided to sell the house, in order to liquidate their main asset and move to Thailand. With the proceeds of the sale, they had more than enough money to buy a gorgeous, luxury home just outside of Pattaya, and to fund a very comfortable existence for themselves. They also had money left over to place in tax efficient investments, set up so as to avoid inheritance tax. From their base here, they use their liquidated wealth to travel around Asia and farther afield, the kind of exciting retirement they would never have afforded had they kept their large, valuable house in the UK.
When the relative cost of real estate between the West and Thailand is taken into account, particularly with prices being as they are right now, I believe this is the kind of approach that more and more retirees will start to consider. In the current market, even ten million Baht can buy you a truly luxurious home, and something extremely comfortable can be purchased for a lot less. Thus, for lots of individuals of retirement age in the West, their current home can not only provide them with a lovely home in Thailand, but at the same time with a significant lump sum that they can use to increase their quality of life in retirement. Of course it is not uncommon for retirees in the West to sell their houses to cover the cost of moving to live in an old folks' home. I know which option I would prefer.
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Have a great month.
Tim Gladwin |
