"Boom Town" Pattaya

[Gaybutton]

The following appears in THE NATION:

_____

 

Foreign, Local Demand Fuelling Boom in Pattaya's Property Market

 

The residential market in Pattaya has proven resilient, thanks to pent-up demand from Pattaya locals and Thai and foreign buyers of condominiums and single houses, says a new research report by international property consultants CB Richard Ellis.

 

In response to the growing market, CB Richard Ellis plans to open a new office in Pattaya.

 

As a result of the opening of Suvarnabhumi Airport and continued improvements in both infrastructure and the property market, more property developers are now entering the Pattaya market and launching a variety of developments, including residences, international chain hotels and retail and lifestyle facilities. This will benefit Pattaya and increase its attractiveness as a convenient leisure-home location.

 

The company is seeing more people buying houses and condominium units in Pattaya as first homes, second homes for leisure and relaxation and retirement residences. CB Richard Ellis managing director Aliwassa Pathnadabutr said the rise in demand had been seen in all grades of residential property - particularly condominiums - and proven by good sales performances.

 

A good example of a successful project in Pattaya is The Sails, a five-star beachfront condominium project that has already sold more than 75 per cent of the total units. Another successful development is Baan Talay, a luxury single-detached housing project on Jomtien Beach with a starting price of Bt15 million that has received a lot of interest from Thais and foreigners looking for luxury resort homes with true privacy. Prime locations in Pattaya include Wong Amat, Khao Pratumnak and Jomtien, where many commercial and residential developments have been constructed.

 

For residential projects, especially in the luxury market, prime areas have been extending towards Bang Sarae and Tawanron Beach, both of which feature stunning scenery, clean beaches and higher levels of privacy. Most of the projects are located on the beachfront or within close proximity of the beach. Ensuring sea views from units is a crucial element for grade-A developments in achieving high prices.

 

The latest survey of residential condominium projects in Pattaya conducted by CB Richard Ellis' research team reports there are six high-rise developments being actively marketed totalling 966 units, 70.4 per cent of which have been sold or reserved.

 

CB Richard Ellis forecasts there will be only 329 grade-A condominium units at several projects that are scheduled for completion next year and another 463 in 2008. The total supply of grade-A condominiums will then reach 2,100 units next year, which represents only 8.5 per cent of the total market.

 

Given the strong demand and limited high-quality supply, prices have been increasing. The average price of grade-A high-rise condominium developments at prime beachfront locations is now Bt85,000 to Bt110,000 per square metre.

 

CB Richard Ellis believes Pattaya is now riding the rising wave of a new property cycle as demand continues to improve and expects to see developers launching more new residential condominium and holiday-home projects in Pattaya next year.

 

[Gaybutton]

It seems that just about everywhere in Pattaya and the surrounding vicinity, if there is any land available at all, something is being built on it. Most of it is new apartments and shop houses, along with condos and new shopping centers.

 

That would be fine except there seems to be no substantial infrastructure improvement taking place to support it. If it's been as short a time as even six months since you were last in Pattaya you are likely to be surprised at the amount of new construction going on. South Road (Pattaya Tai) is torn up at the moment. The water company, from what I understand, is putting in new pipes. Other than that, I don't see much infrastructure improvement going on.

 

What I do see is more and more massive traffic jams. So far, it's not quite as bad as Bangkok, but the traffic situation is getting steadily worse and so is parking. Compounding the traffic problems are people who double and even triple park with impunity.

 

Right now, you might as well forget about trying to drive or even take a baht bus down South Road (Pattaya Tai). There will be long delays, especially during rush hour and the evening hours. If you don't know the back roads and how to bypass the Pattaya Tai traffic, then you're going to be stuck in it. Then, if you're driving a car, once you get into the city, good luck finding a place to park.

 

I have no idea, with all the construction going on, how electricity, water, traffic, parking, trash, and sewage will be dealt with. Pattaya is having plenty of problems trying to deal with the present situation as it is. Even when a major improvement project gets started, there always seems to be major delays. Then, once the project is completed, there is often something wrong with it and it is either left as it is or it has to be done all over again.

 

 

[Guest Hedda]

I have no idea, with all the construction going on, how electricity, water, traffic, parking, trash, and sewage will be dealt with.

Nor does the city government.

 

When you consider that almost 80% of the capital city Bangkok's sewage is untreated and dumped into the river, which flows into the Gulf, which flows past Pattaya, it's no wonder that our own little piglet Pattaya has made absolutely no attempt to control development, in order to keep pace with the infrastructure's capacity to deal with it.

 

It's really sad to see the Thais, many of whom are western-educated, rushing headlong into uncontrolled development, destroying the natural environment, ignoring zoning as if it were a disease, and repeating all the mistakes that the West made generations ago and is now trying to correct.

 

It's all about money, of course. The nouveau rich Thais, of whom Thaksin was the most prominent example, want to use Thailand to maximize their personal wealth, regardless of its ultimate toll on the society.

 

The old money aristocracy wants to keep running things, even if that means running them right into the 19th century. Neither group has any allegiance to society's interests at large and its aspirations to democratic power sharing.

 

No, there's nothing uniquely Thai about money and greed, but when there's nothing uniquely left in Thailand that's Thai anymore, who will want to come here, other than masses of Chinese tourists with nowhere else to go.

 

My neighborhood is already starting to see electic brown-outs regularly and the ubiquitous water trucks are starting to fill the streets again, now that we've gone a few weeks without constant rain.

 

One of those new luxury high rises is nearing completion near my Pattaya condo. But when it does rain hard in my area now, I can watch the flooding waters washing tons of untreated sewage right into the Gulf not 300 meters from our driveway. This is luxury living ?

 

To my knowledge, the Pattaya sewage treatment plant, when it's working at full capacity, cannot service half of the sewage generated by Pattayans 5 years ago, much less what may exist now or 5 years hence.

 

Just how well the plant treats and cleans the water is a big question too, highlighted by the fact that it dumps the treated water back into the Gulf, rather the employ the "clean" water for household, agricultural or industrial purposes.

 

In a city starving for water, with new building sprouting every day, why would you dump treated water back into the Gulf and not use if for a myriad of possible uses ?

.

[Gaybutton]

Just how well the plant treats and cleans the water is a big question too, highlighted by the fact that it dumps the treated water back into the Gulf, rather the employ the "clean" water for household, agricultural or industrial purposes.

 

In a city starving for water, with new building sprouting every day, why would you dump treated water back into the Gulf and not use if for a myriad of possible uses ?

 

Maybe it's not so clean. Either way, dumping it into the gulf is not my idea of the best use for it. I've thought about having the water that comes out of my tap tested, but I haven't done it. I'm afraid of what will be found in it.

[Guest gonefishing]

Boom in Pattaya's Property Market

 

The residential market in Pattaya has proven resilient ... The company is seeing more people buying houses and condominium units .

 

Given the strong demand and limited high-quality supply, prices have been increasing.... CB Richard Ellis believes Pattaya is now riding the rising wave of a new property cycle as demand continues to improve and expects to see developers launching more new residential condominium and holiday-home projects in Pattaya next year.

 

It seems that just about everywhere in Pattaya and the surrounding vicinity, if there is any land available at all, something is being built on it. Most of it is new apartments and shop houses, along with condos and new shopping centers.

 

That would be fine except there seems to be no substantial infrastructure improvement taking place to support it. it's not quite as bad as Bangkok, but the traffic situation is getting steadily worse and so is parking.

 

After "boom" usually comes "bust", which is what a number of Pattaya's estate agents are worried about at the moment - particularly those who decided to re-invest their profits from real estate sales in developments of their own. Hardly surprisingly, few are willing to admit this publicly and risk losing their now considerable investments.

 

There are indeed a vast amount of new developments of all shapes and sizes, but it is clear to even a casual observer that there is already a danger of oversupply, particularly of shophouses and, more recently, single houses in all price ranges. Comparing current prices being asked for rentals against sales prices being asked for the same property shows a comparatively poor return, which is not a good sign even before more properties are added to the market.

 

After a recent, and very rare, visit to Bangkok I was surprised to find that the traffic situation was considerably worse in almost any area of Pattaya than in Central Bangkok (not to mention the state of the roads and the overall ambience). The only area I encountered with worse traffic was the motorway, which is far from complete!

 

Given the increase in violent crime in Pattaya, which must worry anyone looking for a "convenient leisure home location" the question must be when any "bust" will come, rather than if.

 

In the past property development has always been the most convenient way to launder money legitimately, as it did not matter too much if property was not sold in the short term, or even at a loss; now, however, "legitimate" developers are increasingly involved and are clearly gambling that they can make sufficient money in the short term to offset future losses - if they stay that long!

 

[Gaybutton]

After "boom" usually comes "bust", which is what a number of Pattaya's estate agents are worried about at the moment - particularly those who decided to re-invest their profits from real estate sales in developments of their own.

 

The strong baht probably isn't exactly helping sales either. When I bought my place, the exchange rate was 45 baht to the US dollar. Now it's 36 point something. Also, housing prices were far less expensive when I bought.

 

I suppose if one is a potential buyer, the plus side is that there are a hell of a lot of choices. However, if you want to buy in a prime location, then act fast. Those units are the first ones to sell and they go quickly.

[Guest Boxer]

I blame Thai Law, corruption and the lack of planning controls for much of the trouble here and headed towards Pattaya.

Tall or inappropriate buildings closing off the view of established ones i.e Jomtien.

Roads that cannot cope now mainly through lack of planning when property was cheaper and no hope of compulsury purchase to improve them, in 5 years the town will be at a standstill for most parts.

e.g. the new Jomtien 2nd Road is only 2 lanes each way instead of three, it is destined to be Soi Buakhao 2 with congestion at its max.. Traffic lights that dont work all over.

No provision for Public Car Parks in town to meet the demands.

Forget Beach Road the tourists will stop coming as it takes them an hour or more to cross town to get to Tiffany Show.

Poorly repaired roads and pavements if at all.

Electric that cuts off as a storm approaches, only seen in low season buyers!

Sewage made for a small town not a 'boom town', (been there seen that) why worry we can pump it out to sea easier.

Water supply that is hit and miss at best and Floods across Pattaya when it rains. All this and the reservoirs are at the fullest i have ever seen in 8 years.

Telephone lines restricted or not available, try and get a direct line on the other side of Sukhumvit.

Police service that is underpaid and understaffed parts of town are gang controlled already.

But we still choose to live here and enjoy it all!

[PattayaMale]

Traffic and parking are current problems because of the over development with out improving the infastructure. However, as building continues, the old housing stock will stay in place. In most areas this had led to slums and crime.

 

The police force is divided into many parts and not really growing as population and crime increase. The traffic police really can blow their whistle all day long. The problem has become volume. As Thais become richer (many can remember when there were few cars and not that many motorbikes). It was a big deal for many boys in the bars to get a motorbike. Now I can't think of one bar boy that does NOT have a motorbike. The good part of this is that the Thai economy is improving.

 

Few countries anywhere in the world build the infastructure fist. Look at London, New York, Los Angeles, Rome, Paris, Istanbul, etc. It is too bad that city planners have not learned from the mistakes of the past. Of course roads, sewers, police, clean water supply, traffic control is expensive and unfortunately not paid by the developers. It gets paid for from some type of taxation. Taxation is usually political.

 

Taxes paid in Pattaya does not necessarily stay in Pattaya. Thailand is a big country. Many politicians want elected. They demand money for their provincies.

 

There is no way to turn back the development. Most expats have no choice. We can adapt and enjoy ourselves or drive ourselves crazy worrying about it. I certainly b**** about it as much as most, but fortunately I live in the central or south central area. My friends that live east are suffering traffic and lack of services much more than I am.

 

But how many of us would stay or visit if Pattaya did not have the sex entertainment? That for many is the biggest reason for being here. It sure is not the tropical weather or dirty beaches.