Foreigners buying homes in Asean

Thai property firms have been promoting their residential projects overseas since early this year, and many have closed sales with foreign buyers wanting a second or vacation home in the Kingdom.
Sansiri sold Bt2 billion worth of condominium units in the first half of this year to buyers from Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan.
Last year, the company recorded Bt3.5 billion in presales from foreign customers, and it expects overseas presales of up to Bt5 billion this year. Its overall presales target is Bt42 billion.
“We plan to roadshow our luxury condominium projects in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore this year, having witnessed [foreign] demand to buy in these projects last year,” said SC Asset Corp chief executive officer Nuttaphong Kunakornwong.
The company’s luxury Saladaeng Ond project, which was launched last year, has achieved sales of Bt900 million to buyers from Hong Kong, Singapore, mainland China and Taiwan, he said.
The implementation of the Asean Economic Community this year and a weaker baht have been seen as the main factors boosting foreign demand for condominiums in Bangkok’s central business districts.
Surachet Kongcheep, associate director of research at property consultancy Colliers International, said buyers from mainland China and Hong Kong were the main targets for developers focused on the luxury residential market.
He said some condominium projects in Bangkok along Sukhumvit Road had sold out their foreign quota – 49 per cent of the units – to buyers from mainland China, Hong Kong and Japan within days.
Country Group Development plans to kick off the third round of sales of its Four Seasons Private Residences Bangkok in Hong Kong in the current second half of this year.
“Hong Kong is an important market for us. We hope to come to the city at least once a year,” said chief executive Ben Taechaubol.
But it is not only Thailand’s property market that has seen strong demand from foreign buyers; other countries in Asean have been experiencing something similar.
 
Asean market
According to a report by Viet Nam News, more than 10,000 apartments were sold in Vietnam in the second quarter of this year, many to foreigners, who are permitted to buy up to 30 per cent of the units in a project.
Property consulting firm Jones Lang Lasalle Viet Nam told the paper that there had been a strong increase in condo sales to foreigners in Ho Chi Minh City.
Since the law was amended last July, foreigners have bought more than 1,000 apartments in Ho Chi Minh City alone, according to the company.
The total number of units sold in 2015 was double that of 2014, thanks to growth in both demand and supply and support from banks for both developers and buyers, said Stephen Wyatt, country head of the company.
Vientiane Times also reported that more Laotian entrepreneurs were building apartments and rental houses to meet the rising demand of foreigners living in Laos, according to an expert in the field.
Houmphan Sayalath, managing director of RentsBuy Co, told the paper that about 80 per cent of those operating real-estate agencies were Laotian nationals and the rest foreign investors.
Chinese and Korean businesspeople have also begun investing in allocated houses and apartments for rent after witnessing rising demand in the real-estate market. The inflow of foreign investment to Laos has resulted in more people seeking to rent houses and apartments, particularly foreigners, who cannot own land in their own right.
He said the highest demand for rental houses and apartments was for those charging US$500-$1,000 (Bt17,500-Bt35,000) a month.
Although United Nations agencies have reduced their staff in Laos, the demand for rental properties is still increasing because of the inflow of foreign nationals.
In the Philippines, the real-estate market is expected to sustain its robust growth this year, driven largely by a strong economy and the continued entry and expansion of outsourcing companies, and growing developments outside central business districts, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
CB Richard Ellis Philippines chairman and founder Rick M Santos said there was strong interest from multinational companies in setting up shared services in the country on the back of a conducive business environment.
A number of these companies are focusing more on pre-committing space in anticipation of the programmed increase in the number of their employees in the coming years.
 
Laws revised
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s government now allows foreigners to own landed houses as part of efforts to boost the economy, after the release of a regulation signed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on December 22, 2015, according to The Jakarta Post.
The regulation stipulates that foreigners who hold resident permits are allowed to own houses under the Right to Use Title.
In Myanmar early this year, its Parliament finally passed the draft of the Condominium Law that will legally permit foreigners to own up to 40 per cent of a condominium building, Eleven Myanmar reported.
Under the law, a “condo” is defined as a building with at least six storeys on land measuring 20,000 square feet (1,858 square metres).