Ms. Risinee Sarikaputra, Director of Research and Consultancy, Knight Frank Chartered (Thailand) Co., Ltd. revealedthat Bangkok’s midtown is an alternative location for urban condominium buyers, given its close proximity to many shopping centres and convenience to transportation links. The hottest midtown locale is the Ratchada-Rama 9-Ladprao area, which seems to be a new hotspot for commercial, residential and tourism–related destinations in Bangkok.
Knight Frank Thailand’s Research shows that in the past five years, the Ratchada-Rama 9-Ladprao area has undergone many changes. Factors such as seamless access to the mass transit system and connectivity to major city roads have encouraged robust expansion in every segment of its property market. The completion of the Central Plaza Grand Rama 9 project further boosted convenience for people who work or live in this area. From 2009 to the first half of this year, the accumulated condominium supply along Ratchada-Rama 9-Ladprao comprised 41,370 units, of which around 35,881 units were sold. The sales rate was approximately 86.7%.
Another interesting area in midtown is around Phayathai –Phaholyothin, with a total supply of about 13,595 units. About 11,674 units have been sold, representing a sales rate of 85.9%. The area is also seeing many office developments. For instance, Pruksa Real Estate Public Company Limited is developing an office building in this area for their own use. Named Pearl Bangkok, the 25 storey building is located in front of Phaholyothin Soi 5 on the main road, with an office area of about 30,000 square metres. Another new office building is Shinawatra Tower 4, which is located on Phaholyothin Road next to Shinawatra Tower 1. The office will be a 24-storey building with a net lettable area of 10,000 square metres.
The completion of these two office buildings will increase the demand of condominiums in the area. One such new condominium project includes The Monument Sanampao, which launched during the first quarter of this year and reportedly sold out. Another condominium project is The Line at Chatuchak Station, which also launched during the first half of this year and sold out. Both projects are developed by Sansiri Public Company Limited.
Another area in midtown that is interesting for condominium development is Petchburi Road, parallel to Sukhumvit Road. There are only 6,021 units in the supply, with 5,244 units sold, or about 87%. With close proximity to the Sukhumvit area, Petchburi started to witness condominium development in 2008; the first project was The Circle Condominium, developed by Fragrant Group, located on the main stretch next to Petchburi Soi 36. In 2009, other condominium developments, including The Address Asoke and Villa Asoke, cropped up. Both projects are located near the airport rail link station at Makkasan. The Address Asoke was very successful as its average selling price was the same as many projects located in Sukhumvit, with an average selling price of over THB 100,000 per square metre in 2009.
Petchburi Road seems to be much more attractive with the announcement by Singha Corporation Company Limited to develop Singh Complex on a land plot of about 11 rai. The mixed-use development will consist of an office tower, convention hall, retail space and hotel. This project will certainly increase the demand for condominiums in this area.
Rama 3 is another area that is considered to be in midtown. The majority of condominium projects in this area was in the Grade C category, with approximately 5,334 units, representing about 66.4% of the total supply. Grade B condominiums in this area included around 2,096 units, representing about 26.1%, whereas Grade A condominiums included only 608 units, or 7.6%. It is interesting to see that Grade C condominiums showed the highest demand in terms of both sales rate and number of units sold, with 4,863 units sold and a 91.2% sales rate. Grade B condominium demand was 1,715 units, with a sales rate of 81.8%, whereas Grade A demand was only 406 units, with a sales rate of 66.8%.
The average selling price of new condominiums launching in midtown was around THB 126,369 per square metre. The highest average selling price was seen in Phaholyothin, at approximately THB 149,000 per square metre, followed by Ratchada-Rama 9-Ladprao at around THB 132,109 per square metre and Petchburi at THB 98,000 per square metre. The lowest average selling price in the midtown condominium market was in Rama 3, with prices at approximately THB 78,000 per square metre.
