Growing popularity of Phuket villas as a prestigious holiday destination and property investment

The Phuket property market is experiencing a real boom in the first half of 2024, especially in the villa segment. The number of new villas introduced to the market has already exceeded the total number of launches for the whole of 2023, reaching 1,285 units worth 36.3 billion baht. Notably, for the first time in 15 years, the price of villas exceeded the price of condominiums, which is primarily due to strong demand from Russian buyers. Phattharachai Thaweewong, director of research at consultancy Colliers Thailand, notes the high activity in the villa market and predicts its continuation in the second half of the year. Despite a temporary decrease in activity in May and June due to floods, the market quickly recovered, demonstrating impressive sales results. Thus, in one project, villas worth 400-500 million baht were sold in a month.

Even with such a significant influx of new properties, demand for villas remains high. Colliers Thailand experts predict that the positive dynamics in the market will continue, which indicates a stable and growing interest in luxury real estate in Phuket.

The number of new projects of which reached a record 170 with units available for purchase. This is a significant increase compared to the usual 30-40 projects with 100-150 new units per year. At the same time, the condominium market shows a slowdown in growth: 4,690 units worth 36 billion baht were launched in the first half of the year. Notably, this is the first time in 15 years that the supply price of new condominiums was lower than that of villas.

The total value of new condominium and villa supply in the first half of the year was 72.3 billion baht, and is expected to reach 150 billion baht by the end of the year, exceeding last year's figure of 110 billion baht. A significant portion of new projects are scheduled to be launched in the fourth quarter. Among them, four projects from Sansiri Plc worth a total of about 4 billion baht stand out, including luxury villas with pools, a condominium in Cherng Talay and a project of detached houses in Koh Kaew.

The most popular locations for villas were Bang Tao, Cherng Talay and Rayan, where sales reached 2-3 units per month. In other areas, demand was lower, about 1-1.5 villas per month. Condominiums, in turn, show an absorption rate of 5.8 units per month, which indicates a complete divergence of stock in less than two years. Condos priced under 2 million baht, which are considered affordable to a wide range of buyers, are selling especially quickly.

This piece of text reflects the key trends in the Phuket property market: the growing popularity of villas, the decline in condominium prices and the continued high demand for affordable housing.