PROPERTY
UPDATES IN PHUKET
The Phuket Luxury Homes ‘Lifestyle’ property market which
did not exist until a few years ago have now become ubiquitous. As a result
for the phenomenon of the last few years, the island has been undergoing
a mini construction boom of luxury residential homes and in particular, ‘Lifestyle’ properties.
In year 2006, there are some tightening of government policies in Foreign
Business Act in foreign ownership structure in Thai company and the new
rules set by the Ministry of Interior Notification May 15,2006 & Ministry
of Commerce August 15,2006, which leads to some rumors that these new rules
will caused serious impact on Phuket’s property market. Although,
initially It caused a temporary uncertainties to the market but now It
should not affect the market, as the buyers / investors know this is not
a new law and mainly clarifies the GREY area. Only deters to those who
did not understand the existing law properly e.g. some agents unable to
explain clearly to their buyers.
This will definitely not be an issue to the reputable developers and international
professional property companies as many developments in Phuket has done
with proper law consideration for a long time. As such there are no signs
of major transactions falls because of the policies.
According to our research, we believe in 2007, Phuket remains the pinnacle
of resort destinations for retirees, tourists and property buyers (majority
buyer’s age group between 35 to 70 years old) from the expatriates
based
in the Far East and Europeans, in particular from the United Kingdom buying
into a ‘Lifestyle’ property in Phuket Island. Hong Kong and
Singapore expatriates continue to be the major property buyers in Phuket.
In summary, due to the current limited supply of completed existing villa
projects in Phuket, we believe the resale market, luxury projects will
remain active and the future trend will be more projects mushrooming on
the East Coast, North of Phuket and Khok Kloi but West Coast will still
remain as the primer choice for investors.
Our confidence is that Phuket will still be a very attractive resort lifestyle
and potential investment property market for the medium to long term investors
as compared to some alternative locations in South East Asia. In addition,
if there are any amendment in the foreigner land ownership to either allow
foreigners to own a certain size of land or permits a longer land lease
term (50 – 90 years), you will expect the Phuket’s property
market to boom further.
Amous Lee, General Manager
Knight Frank Phuket
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