Q4 launches postponed until next year

“We have had to delay the launch of five residential projects during the remainder of this year after seeing a fall in residential demand,” Pruksa Real Estate co-chief executive officer Lersak Chuladesa said recently.
Pruksa originally planned to launch 25 projects worth Bt25 billion during the rest of the year, but the company has revised the plan and will now launch just 20 projects worth Bt20 billion because of a market slump, he said. 
However, the developer plans to launch more than 50 projects – including the five carried over from this year – during the course of 2017, with a combined value of over Bt50 billion.
“We believe residential demand will recover next year when the government starts to invest in infrastructure projects worth more than Bt600 billion,” Lersak added.
Property Perfect is also postponing project launches during what remains of this year, deferring 10 projects worth Bt15.2 billion until the first half of next year, said Wongsakorn Prasitvipat, the company’s chief business officer.
“We have had to delay to the launch four condominium projects worth Bt5 billion and six detached-housing projects worth Bt10.2 billion during the rest of this year, after witnessing a drop in demand since the third quarter,” he said.
The decision means Property Perfect’s presales target of Bt15 billion for the full year will now likely be off by some 20 per cent, coming in at around Bt12 billion, he added.
However, the company will use an integrated marketing strategy to drive presales at its existing projects through to the year’s end, Wongsakorn stressed.
Property Perfect plans to launch more than 20 projects in 2017, including the 10 deferred from this year.
“We believe next year’s residential market will be better than this year’s, when household debt declines after all repayments have been made under the first-car scheme by the end of this year. This will create room for people to get a new loan from the bank to buy a home next year,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Kanda Property chief executive officer Issara Boonyoung said his company planned to launch six residential projects worth up to Bt10 billion combined next year, thanks to the government’s investment in infrastructure projects, which will kick off in earnest during the course of the year. 
This will open up opportunities for property firms to develop residential projects in new areas located close to new mass-transit routes in greater Bangkok, he said. 
In addition, purchasing power among home-buyers next year will increase as most people who bought a vehicle under the first-car scheme five years ago would be completing their repayments this year, making it easier for them to get a mortgage from January onwards, he added.
“We are confident the residential market in 2017 will be better than this year’s, which is showing signs of being as much as 10 per cent lower than the level achieved last year,” Issara said.
Nirvana Development, a subsidiary of Singha Estate, plans to launch six projects together worth Bt10 billion next year.
“We are confident the property market will recover next year, doubling our presales from this year’s estimated level of Bt2 billion,” CEO Sornsak Somwattana said recently.
Four-year plan 

Ocean Property, the real-estate arm of Ocean Life Insurance, also plans new launches in the year ahead, with four residential projects worth Bt2.6 billion in its sights.
“We have a four-year business plan from 2017 through 2020 to launch up to four projects worth up to Bt4 billion each year, which would boost our annual sales by double digits. 
“This is because we are confident the property market will see sustainable growth in the next four years, once the government starts to expand its investment in infrastructure projects next year,” Ocean Property managing director Tirachai Pipitsupaphol said.
Meanwhile, a survey by The Nation has found that several other leading developers are also planning to launch more residential projects in 2017, having deferred some from this year.
For example, LPN Development plans to launch up to 10 condominium projects valued at more than Bt10 billion combined next year, while Land & Houses will launch between 13 and 15 residential projects worth over Bt20 billion.
AP (Thailand) is also planning 20 to 25 residential launches worth over Bt30 billion combined during the year, and SC Asset Corp has plans for about 10 new projects valued at more than Bt15 billion.
Among SC Asset’s plans are the 28 Chidlom luxury condominium, whose launch has been put off from late this year to the first quarter of 2017.
“Most property firms are delaying the launch of new projects from what is left of this year to next year, when they believe the country’s economy will recover and purchasing power will return to the market,” a property expert said.