House prices up 5.01% y-o-y in Q3 2020

Nationwide house prices rose by a healthy 5.01% in Q3 2020 from a year earlier, up on the previous year’s 3.32% increase. It was the thirteenth consecutive quarter of y-o-y price increases. House prices fell slightly by 0.91% q-o-q during the latest quarter.

Demand and supply rising

In August 2020, property credit outstanding was up 5.9% y-o-y to THB 3.25 trillion (US$ 107.32 billion), following a rise of 5.2% in 2019, according to the Bank of Thailand (BoT). 

Residential construction is now surging. Condominium registrations rose nationwide by 55.2% to 60,894 units in the first eight months of 2020 compared to a year earlier, according to BoT. In Bangkok Metropolis, condo registrations surged around 96% y-o-y to 40,298 units over the same period.

Rents, rental yields: yields are good in Bangkok at 8.05%

Bangkok apartment costs are moderate, at around $3,638 per sq. m. 

Thailand.: city centre apartment, buying price, monthly rent (120 sq. m)
	Buying price	Rate per month	Yield
Bangkok	$ 436,560	$ 1,837	8.05%

Recent news. Thailand’s economy contracted by 6.4% in Q3 2020 from a year earlier,  following declines of 12.1% in Q2 and 2% in Q1, according to the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), as the COVID-19 pandemic hit domestic activity and tourism. On a quarterly basis, the economy expanded 6.5% in Q3, a sharp turnaround from q-o-q falls of 9.9% in Q2, 2.2% in Q1, and 0.3% in Q4 2019. Recently, the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) revised upwards its 2020 economic forecast to a contraction of 6%, from an earlier estimate of 7.3% to 7.8% decline.

In November 2020, the Bank of Thailand left its benchmark rate unchanged at a record low of 0.5%, following three consecutive rate cuts this year, in an effort to minimize the economic repercussions from the coronavirus pandemic.