Despite the Covid-19 pandemic that postponed many property development projects, We can report that the real estate market in Phuket is once again ready for another phase of positive development. Phuket’s new lease of life is due to changes in the key players involved, the products available and the profile of the potential property buyers.

For many years Phuket’s property market has been dominated by smaller, foreign property development companies. Generally, such developers are less well-funded and rely heavily on buyers’ deposits for construction to go ahead. As a result, when the financial downturn occurred many of these smaller developers struggled to continue, and were forced to postpone various construction projects.

Many of the developers involved in Phuket’s current property market are much larger corporations, some of which are publicly listed. In addition, today’s property market in Phuket is made up of both foreign and Thai developers. Such changes have boosted the professionalism of the property market in Phuket. Today’s chief developers in Phuket include Supalai, SC Asset, Sansiri and Land & House, and are corporations that are already well established in Bangkok’s property market.

Even though most of these developers historically target the affordable mass market with their property development projects, many are shifting their attention towards the resort home market, and to foreign investors.

The rising number of tourists visiting the island each year means a higher potential for new sources of resort property buyers. The majority of potential buyers are from countries with emerging economies, particularly Russia and China. Furthermore, tourist numbers in Phuket received a boost from the start of direct flights to the island from the Middle East. Convenient access from the gulf region may propel future demand for Phuket’s resort residential properties.

Thai property developers already established in Bangkok have the potential to attract their existing Thai client base to Phuket, even if it was not a destination where they had previously considered purchasing property.

An important consideration for potential buyers is the affordability of property, particularly in the resort condominium sector. There is consistent demand for properties within the THB5-15 million (US$164,000-490,000) price range in addition to being competitively priced, projects in Phuket must also be well designed to satisfy the new wave of demand, and be comparably larger than unit sizes in Bangkok or Pattaya to maintain the luxurious resort atmosphere.