Strong demand for Samui luxury villas

The research shows that as of the first quarter of this year, there were approximately 213 villa units sold, representing about 55 percent of the supply. The villa units with the highest demand ranged from THB 20 to 40 million per unit; such units comprised about 60.9 percent of the supply. Villas in this price range typically included hillside locations, providing good panoramic sea views, and some distance to the beach.

The company’s director, head of research condultancy Risinee Sarikaputra said that the villa buyers in Koh Samui range from expatriates based in Hong Kong to British, Australian and French nationals. The recently emerging market includes the French and Russians.

The buyers’ decision to purchase a villa tends to be for the lifestyle or as a second home. People buying a second home, holiday or retirement property tend to be emotionally involved in the purchase and like to visit the site and be familiar with the area prior to reserving a unit, which can lengthen the buying process. People buying a property in Koh Samui are most often owners of a property elsewhere; in many instances, they own two or more properties throughout the region and world. Location is a key factor for sales, and people pay a lot of attention to the site, views and immediate environment, including other developments and the availability of amenities in the immediate area, she said.

The popular villa units have 3 to 5 bedrooms and land plots of about 200 to 400 square wah, with a usable area of around 450 to 650 square metres. The selling price is based on the distance to the beach, views from the unit, unit size and land plot size.

The majority of villas are concentrated around Cheong Mon, Chaweng and Bophut beaches. Around 198 out of 420 villa units are located in Cheong Mon; Chaweng and Bophut each boast about 58 units. These locations are popular for villa development because they are key tourist destinations with popular beaches. There are many resorts and hotels located in the areas, as well as retail outlets such as Tesco Lotus, Big C, Makro and Central Festival Samui. The emerging areas should be around Maenam and Lamai beaches, as these locales are peaceful and tranquil, with relatively beautiful beaches. Also, facilities and amenities are not too far away.