Developers rethink as mortgage rules tighten

“We have to revise our strategy when commercial banks restrict providing mortgage loans to the lower-income market.
“The rising of household debt also impacted our presales and total revenue in 2016. They were lower than our estimate,” Tikhamporn Plengsrisuk, CEO of LPN, told a press conference yesterday.
This has caused the developer to switch focus from the lower income market to the middle- to upper-income market
Following the new strategy, the company plans to launch 12 residential projects worth Bt20 billion this year, of which seven worth Bt16 billion will focus on the middle- and upper-income market where residences are priced over Bt3 million per unit, managing director Opas Sripayak said.
Ananda Development Plc’s new business model is to collaborate with startups and innovative firms to provide new technology and more services to its customers.
“That will be a challenge to do business when the market faces high competition,” CEO Chanond Ruangkritya said at a press conference yesterday.
For example, the company has joined with Hubba, Seedstars, Sasin and Builk. 
It is offering the first pilot project, the Haupcar car-sharing service, at its Ideo Q Chula-Sam Yan and Ideo Mobi Sukhumvit properties. 
Then the company will collaborate with other startups to provide other services to support customer demand, he said.
“We will not invest all new technology by ourselves but we will support the country’s startups to collaborate in business with us and also provide more innovations to serve different demands especially the demand for innovative technology to serve our customers’ lifestyle,” he said.