Student demand drives Bang Saen's condo market

Colliers has separated the Bang Saen area into three zones – Angsila, northern Bang Saen and southern Bang Saen.

Surachet Kongcheep, senior manager of the research department at Colliers International Thailand, said the more interesting areas were northern and southern Bang Saen, as there were many condominium projects under development in both areas. 

“The first condominium project in northern Bang Saen was started in 1994 and the numbers have increased annually since then,” Surachet said.

“Students from Burapha University are the main driver for condominium projects in these areas. They have changed their lifestyles from using apartments to condominiums, and then sell their units after graduation. 

“All condominium developers in the Bang Saen area are local developers, but some listed developers are planning to launch new projects too. In addition, the average price as of May has increased year on year by around 7 per cent,” he added.

Many condominium projects were launched in the past few years, so a lot are now under construction and will be completed in the next few years. However, in Angsila, Surachet said only about 240 units were under construction and scheduled to be completed within the next two years. 

More than 600 units are expected to be completed this year in northern Bang Saen and more than 440 units in southern Bang Saen. Both areas have become fashionable for condominium developments in the past few years, because of the high number of land plots available at reasonable prices, said Surachet said.

The main buyers in the Bang Saen area are students from Burapha University or people who work at the university, as well as those who work in Muang district.

 cent, with approximately 87 per cent of units launched between May 2012 and May 2013,” Surachet said.

He added that although condominiums were more expensive than apartments, students from Burapha University preferred condos because of the support facilities – such as car parks and security systems. This also attracted investment in condominiums around the university. 

There are more than 30,000 students on Burapha University’s Bang Saen campus, with about 6,000 new students this year.

The selling price in the Bang Saen area ranges from about Bt750,000 to more than Bt8 million per unit, or around Bt29,000-Bt115,000 per square metre. The average price of condominium units in the area is about Bt45,600 per square metre – an increase of around 7 per cent from last year.

“The average selling price in southern Bang Saen is higher than other locations by 12-45 per cent as it is located closer to the university, where students and employees are the main target group,” Surachet said. “Moreover, land prices in the area are higher, which directly affects the price of condominium units. 

“The average price in northern Bang Saen has increased from 2012 by more than 15 per cent, because many condominium projects launched in the past two years are almost finished.”