An increase in the foreign ownership quota for condos to 75% is unlikely to significantly impact the Thai property market or economy as very few condo projects have reached the quota, an analyst said.

Praphinleeya Phuengkhuankhan, head of residential sales – ad hoc at property consultant CBRE Thailand, said only one or two condo projects in Bangkok have neared the foreign ownership quota of 49%.

“One of these projects is exceptional as its foreign ownership quota of 48-49% is because an embassy purchased a large number of units for its staff to stay,” she said. “Elsewhere in Bangkok, we have not seen any condo projects exceeding 40%.”

Condo projects with a high foreign ownership quota were typically developed by foreign developers with an established customer base overseas, with the condo usually marketed to these customers, said Ms Praphinleeya.

Condo projects developed by foreign developers are limited. CBRE handles both new and resale condo units, and reported no projects with a high foreign ownership quota.

“An increase in the foreign ownership quota for condos to 75% may not be significant for the market nor the economy as demand from foreign buyers for any single project is not that high,” she said.

“Even in tourist destinations such as Pattaya or Phuket, they prefer villas over condos.”

Nationwide, the number of condo ownership transfers by foreigners accounted for 13.6% last year, up from 10.8% in 2022, 9.1% in 2021 and 6.8% in 2020, according to CBRE. The rate was 9.9% in 2019 and 10.1% in 2018.

By location, foreign buyers tended to purchase condos outside Greater Bangkok, with the proportion of their transfers in other provinces rising to 57% in 2023 from 46% in 2022, 42% in 2021 and 36% in 2020, which dropped from 53% in 2019.

CBRE forecasts the proportion of condo ownership transfers nationwide by foreigners will decline to 11.7% this year, while the proportion of foreign condo transfers outside Greater Bangkok would rise to 60% by year-end.