‘Community condo’ concept has potential

Space for facilities in suburban areas

Community condominium projects are expected to grow in popularity among developers in the Kaset-Navamin area and outside the city, according to the property brokerage Century 21 Realty Affiliates (Thailand).

Chief executive Kitisak Jampathipphong said developers looking to succeed in the area should embrace the concept of building community residences that offer full facilities.

“Condo projects in the market today are clearly focused on the locations close to existing and potential mass-transit routes. Not many are expanding to outer urban areas,” Mr Kitisak said.

Those projects usually have limited space for facilities such as sports clubs and swimming pools while people in the city are increasingly looking to have better quality of life.

An example of a community condo project is Parc Exo, developed by Parc Exo Co, to be launched on a 20-rai site in Kaset Navamin this year.

The 2-billion-baht project will have six eight-storey buildings, a sports complex and a community mall. It will have 1,352 units with prices starting from 1.2 million baht and sized from 32 square metres.

Mr Kitisak said the project’s unique point was that it represented a new lifestyle trend for condominiums as it provides four rai to develop a separate sports club complex with a large pool, as well as a mall.

Parc Exo’s target buyers are young people, families living in the area and speculators.

A similar project in the area is Baan Navathara, a community-resort-styled condo with six buildings where 80-90% of the units are sold.

The community condo concept is well-established in many countries, Mr Kitisak said. It is expected to draw buyers seeking a different lifestyle from that offered in downtown condominiums.

“Such a design concept offers more options for buyers as condos in the city with similar unit sizes of 30-60 square metres are different in terms of facilities provided,” he said. “We could see the growing use of the concept in areas such as Bang Na and Rama II.”

The competition in the condominium market in Kaset-Navamin is low, as the area features mainly detached housing and townhouse developments. But in the long term, more condominiums could emerge as land prices rise and push up developers’ costs.

Units in Kaset Navamin still offer low prices around 40,000 baht per sq m. Land prices are also low at 25,000 to 45,000 baht per square wah.

Century 21 sees a positive trend for the property market in every segment in the second half. This is supported by real demand although foreign buyer sentiment has yet to pick up.

Prices of residential projects in the CBD areas are expected to increase by at least 10% this year on pressure from rising land prices.

Parc Exo is expected to introduce a new condominium in Bangkok this year. The developer has land plots in Pattaya, Phuket and Sukhumvit.