Hua Hin condo market picks up

The company's director of research Risinee Sarikaputra said that in the middle of 2019, the supply of condominiums in Hua Hin totalled 26,886 units. An average of 1,120 new condominium units were put on sale annually between 2016 and 2018, as operators began to delay the launch of projects in the Hua Hin area because of the oversupply. In 2011 and 2012, new condos were being launched at a rate of 6,000 units per year, resulting in reduced sales rates of 45 per cent in 2011 and 56 per cent the following year. That same period also saw operators engage in price wars by devising various promotions to boost sales. Many operators had to delay the launch of their projects and some projects were cancelled altogether.
Slightly more than 22,000 condominiums have been sold in the Hua Hin area out of a supply of 26,886 units, which represents a sales rate of 83 per cent. The lowest sales rate was in 2011. The sales rate increased to 71 per cent in 2015 and 78 per cent in 2017. It was the highest in mid-2019, at 83 per cent. The area with the most supply remaining includes Cha-am, with about 3,376 units available for sale while the areas with the least amount of available supply are Hua Hin and Khao Takiab, with only 254 and 295 units remaining, respectively. The sales rates in Khao Takiab and Hua Hin are 92 and 89 per cent, respectively.
Risinee said that the main buyers in Hua Hin are still Thai people looking for a holiday home for their weekend breaks, and they may rent the units out when they are not there. Foreign customers who buy condominiums in Hua Hin only account for 10 per cent of all buyers; this buyer group consists of foreigners from Scandinavian countries, China, Hong Kong and Singapore.
In terms of the price of condominiums in Hua Hin, the average selling price of a condo with sea views is currently 131,494 baht per square metre. This increased 2 per cent from the end of 2018. The price of a sea view condo falls within the range of 107,000 to 176,000 baht per sqm. Lower-priced units are usually those that have only partial sea views or are not directly facing the sea. The average selling price in Hua Hin tends to be higher than other areas. For units that do not have sea views, the prices range from 60,000 baht to 90,000 baht per sqm. In the first half of 2019, the average selling price of units without sea views was 73,685 baht per sqm, reflecting an increase of 2 per cent from the end of 2018, she said.