Uthai Uthaisangsuk, the company’s senior executive vice president, said demand for mid- to low-priced condominiums, lower than 80,000 baht per sq m, was strong with a take-up rate of 100% in the first half of the year.

“All projects in this segment were sold out within the first six months of being launched,” he said yesterday.

“Our five new condominium projects being launched in the rest of the year will tap this segment.”

Sansiri’s research found there was demand for 23,000 condominium units in the first half, for both newly launched and existing ones, up from the same period last year as demand shifted from low-rise to high-rise units.

The developer, which has delivered a total of about 12,000 condominium units to buyers to date, expects condominium demand in the second half will be more than 20,000 units with 50,000 units for the whole year.

Meanwhile, the launches of about 20,000 units have already been scheduled for the second half with another 10,000 additional units expected.

The take-up rate for condominiums last year was more than 30,000 units, about 49% of the total market, followed by townhouses at 30% and single houses at 20%.

Sansiri will market its D Condo brand for the low-end segment priced at about one million baht for a 25-square-metre unit. The projects will be located close to the skytrain extensions in the Taksin and Sukhumvit Road areas.

The developer’s new properties will comprise four projects with units priced from 80,000 to 100,000 baht per sq m and one luxury project with units priced above 100,000 baht.

During the first half, Sansiri launched two new condominium projects priced more than 80,000 baht per sq m with units starting at 4 million baht for 30 sq m. The average price was 6.5 million baht a unit. About 650 units have already been sold at the two projects worth combined 4.5 billion baht.

For the whole year, Sansiri’s average unit price is expected to be about 4 million baht as a larger number of cheaper units will be launched in the second half.

Mr Uthai said there should be a strong recovery in sentiment in the property market in the second half of the year, given the more stable political situation and an improving economy with higher exports and farm prices, bolstered by estimated economic growth of 4.5%.

The company has targeted 7 billion baht in presales of condominiums in the second half, up from 5 billion in the previous six months.

During the first half the developer transferred units totalling 9 billion baht. Of the total transfer value, 5 billion represented single houses and townhouses with condominiums accounting for 4 billion.

The company expects revenue of 16-17 billion baht for the full year.

Sansiri next month plans to launch Wyne Sukhumvit, a new condominium project worth 1.85 billion baht. Located in the Phra Khanong area, it will comprise 460 fully furnished units sized from 30 to 65 square metres with prices starting at 2.9 million baht a unit.

They are among 21 residential projects worth Bt32 billion that Sansiri plans to launch in the second half of the year, company president Srettha Thavisin said in a press release yesterday.

Ten of the 21 projects, worth Bt17.6 billion, are condominiums. The next eight, worth Bt11.7 billion, are single detached houses, and the remaining three, worth 2.7 billion, are townhouses.

Srettha added that D Condo and V Village are part of the company’s plan to cover all residential segments in the market after its success in the premium market.

The residential projects to be launched in the second half of the year will drive its presales to Bt22 billion at the end of the year after the company record presales of Bt9.4 billion as of June 13, he said.

Listed property developers’ financial results showed strong revenue and net profit growth in the first nine months of this year over the same period of 2008, thanks largely to a recovery in demand for residential projects in the second half of the year.

Sansiri president Srettha Thavisin said the property developer’s revenue for the full year is expected to exceed its estimate of Bt17 billion, reaching Bt17.5 billion to Bt18 billion.

“We believe the property market this year could grow nearly 5 per cent over last year – more than we estimated early this year,” said Supalai deputy managing director Atip Bichanond, who is also president of the Thai Condominium Association.

Supalai’s sales have increased from 2008, Atip said, as prospective home-buyers – most of whom put off buying residential property last year when the global recession hit the Thai economy – have regained confidence.

However, demand for residences has shifted from projects priced between Bt3 million and Bt5 million per unit to the Bt2 million-Bt3 million range, he said.

Meanwhile, signs remain positive for luxury residential projects priced at more than Bt10 million per unit, Quality Houses president and chief executive officer Rutt Phanijphand said.

Higher-income home-buyers have been less adversely affected by the economic downturn, so demand for luxury residences has continued to grow, Rutt said. This sector’s continued strong performance has driven the company’s sales growth past last year’s level, the CEO said.

Preuksa Real Estate chief operating officer Prasert Taedullayasatit believed the property market in Bangkok and its suburbs would see growth over last year, forecasting new-residence registrations would exceed 2008’s approximately 77,000 units.

Prasert said Preuksa’s data also pointed to an overall improvement in the property market this year over last year due to a pick-up in demand for residences in the second half.

SC Asset Corporation chief operations officer Kree Dejchai was similarly upbeat, saying, “We have seen sales increase from Bt600 million in the first quarter of this year to Bt1.2 billion in the second quarter, to Bt1.5 billion in the third quarter. We’re recording sales of Bt200 million per week in the last quarter. That means sales for the year will exceed our estimate of Bt8 billion.”

He expected the property market in Bangkok and its suburbs to grow 5 to 10 per cent this year over last year.

But while the top 10 property developers are doing well, the news has not been so good for small and medium-sized property firms.

MK Real Estate Development director Chukiat Tangmatitham said the company’s sales in the first nine months of this year were down from last year, as the company had launched only one new residential project in the period.

NC Housing managing director Somchao Tanterdtham said small and medium-sized property firms had not benefited from the second-half recovery in the market because most of them had suspended new investments last year. As a result, they simply haven’t been able to compete with the big players as the market recovered, he said.

However, Somchao agreed that the overall property market was likely to grow between 5 and 10 per cent this year.

SOURCE: The Nation

Sansiri

The company has “jumped on to the bandwagon of social networking” in the hope of increasing its marketing tools and becoming a “virtual friend” to its customers by remaining in touch on the social networks.

Sansiri’s assistant vice president for marketing Samatcha Promsiri said the company believed social networking was a vital marketing tool to maintain a good relationship with its customers and to roll-out its campaigns and promotions in real time.

It has set up Facebook.com/sansiri in the role of a customer-relationship management department and has created its own community comprised of existing customers. It is able to communicate with its community directly and receive quick responses.

Samatcha said the beauty of Facebook.com was its verification of users so the company knew who were and were not its existing customers. New target customers were created among friends attached to the networks of the company’s existing customers.

“For example, we put photos of our activities onto Facebook.com and our fans come and tag their photos as well as sending and sharing them with members of their network. Our customer-relationship management activities can promptly spread to a mass of people, as viral marketing. The things we do expand our customer relationship management to give it a wider presence in the online world,” he said.

Moreover, Sansiri aims to use Facebook.com as a bridge to bring its social-networking community back to its main online market community – www.sansiri.com – where detailed information on all its products and services, as well as latest promotions, are available.

Sansiri is also using Twitter.com as a viral marketing tool to deliver real-time marketing messages to potential customers.

Samatcha said that with a limit of 140 characters, Twitter.com/sansiri also aimed to attract people to the company’s main website.

“At Twitter, we can send messages with a harder marketing purpose than those on Facebook, where we must maintain the attitude of friendship, talking with people in friendly tones in a conversational fashion, rather than delivering hard-sell,” he said.

Sansiri learned a quick lesson when it launched its Facebook site with a hard-sell message seeking to directly attach its community. It failed, and the company later realised it was probably seen as broaching an unfriendly relationship.

”We learnt from direct experience that in a social network, people are not willing to accept direct-marketing messages. Instead, they like to communicate in friendly tones, like they are talking with their friends. Therefore, we have to be their friends,” Samatcha said.

He said social networking allowed Sansiri to communicate directly with both existing and prospective customers, and to get their responses and feedback very quickly, with the least cost and resources. Sansiri has a staff of just two people dedicated to its social marketing and gives the effort a very small budget.

Samatcha said that successfully developing social-network marketing was not about spending money, but about understanding human relationships.

As well as its social networking, Sansiri is spending about Bt600 million per year on online marketing. However, this is only 3 per cent of its total marketing budget of Bt1.8 billion per year.

Samatcha said the company’s next step was a plan to expand its online marketing on to Youtube.com. It plans to launch video clips related to Sansiri’s projects, such as recommended restaurants around Sansiri’s development locations, as well as other places of interest.

”For the moment, we will focus on these three channels of social networking,” Samatcha said. “We think there are many things we can develop on these platforms to optimise their ability to create value for both us and our customers.”

Thailand’s leading property developers are preparing to spend more than Bt100 billion in readiness for a fully recovered property market next year.

For example, Sansiri plans to spend Bt17.5 billion to buy 30 plots of land and expects to develop 18 residential projects next year.

LPN Development says it will invest between Bt2 billion and Bt3 billion to develop residential projects with a market value between Bt8 billion and Bt10 billion in 2010, while Quality Houses has set aside Bt3.2 billion to buy undeveloped land in the final months of this year and in 2010. It plans to develop 13 new residential projects next year worth Bt15.61 billion.

Supalai is planning to invest between Bt2 billion and Bt3 billion to buy land for new residential projects in 2010, and Preuksa Real Estate says it will spend between Bt3 billion and Bt5 billion to prepare for the coming year.

Quality Houses president and CEO Rutt Phanijphand said his company would spend Bt700 million to buy land before the end of this year, and the rest of its land-buying budget, totalling Bt3.2 billion, would be spent in 2010.

The company believes the economy will recover and the political situation will be stable next year, so it has plans for the aggressive marketing of 13 new residential projects, worth Bt15.61 billion, in 2010, he said.

“We expect sales growth of 10-15 per cent next year, compared to our revenue target of Bt10 billion this year, because two condominium projects will be complete and ready to transfer to customers in 2010. That will generate revenue of Bt6 billion,” he said.

Sansiri president Srettha Thavisin said that after doubling its registered capital, his company would spend Bt8.5 billion to buy land. Another Bt9 billion will be spent on infrastructure for 18 new projects with a combined market value of Bt22 billion.

This will drive the company’s revenue to Bt50 billion by 2014. It is expected to grow by 10-15 per cent next year, 27 per cent in 2011, 29 per cent in 2012 and 25 per cent on average in 2013 and 2014.

The company is also studying opportunities in New York, Vietnam and the United Kingdom, after expanding into international markets with the Bt600-million purchase of a condominium in London this year.

“We may start by investing in Vietnam in the third quarter of next year,” Srettha said.

The company is preparing for big investments next year because it believes business opportunities will arise when the economy recovers.

“We are concerned only about political problems. If the country’s politics are stable, we believe the economy will recover strongly,” he said.

LPN Development managing director Opas Sripayak said his company believed the economy would recover in the final quarter of this year and early next year. LPN is consequently planning to expand its investments next year and has forecast stable growth of 10-15 per cent in 2010.

SOURCE: The Nation

Sansiri

The theme used in designing the project is Asian Accent, reminiscent of Eastern architecture, said senior marketing manager Samatcha Promsiri.

Located on 70 rai, the project will have an Asian tropical garden 200 metres across at its centre.

The project is close to an expressway and several shopping centres, including The Mall, Central Chaeng Wattana and Carrefour.

Burasiri at Ngarmwongwan-Prachachuen offers four types of houses: Buramaya, Buraladda, Burayada and Burakanda.

Buramaya has 202 square metres of floor space on 65-96 square wah. It has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, one roommate and two parking spaces, with prices between Bt7.77 million and Bt12.19 million.

Buraladda has 196 square metres of floor space on 57-81 square wah, with starting prices between Bt6.87 million and Bt10.52 million per unit. This type has three bedrooms, three bathrooms and two parking spaces.

Burayada houses have 198 square metres of floor space on 57-84 square wah, with prices between Bt6.14 million and Bt8.32 million per unit. This type also has three bedrooms and three bathrooms.

Burakanda is smallest type, with floor space of 160 square metres on 55-82 square wah, at prices between Bt5.99 million and Bt8.62 million per unit. This type also has three bedrooms and three bathrooms.

The interior-design themes follow the Asian Accent concept, especially Modern Chinese style, which combines wood and cotton.

A sample house displays a variety of interior design styles so home-buyers can select the style they want.

A Simply Retro design mixes and matches modern style with 1970s retro furniture, while White Oriental makes the most of the different textures of wood and cotton.

Modern Resort is a design style also featuring wood and cotton, but in earth tones rather than white, and a Modern Luxury concept uses contemporary furniture matched with stainless steel and glass.

The project will have a grand opening on November 1, with a promotion campaign to tempt buyers. Already, about 10 per cent of the project’s 301 units have been presold.

SOURCE: The Nation

Sansiri development

With up to four new projects in development and a brand-building road show this month, the firm anticipates achieving total sales of Bt20bn by year´s end.

Third quarter figures were especially robust, with sales of over Bt5bn, said Settha Thaweesin managing director of Sansiri. He added that to date, sales comprised condominiums in Bangkok’s central business district, single homes, town houses, and international property investments.

The Sansiri Best Buy show last week is also expected to net more than Bt1bn, while plans are underway in 4Q to launch up to four new developments worth between Bt3bn and Bt4bn.

“Of the Bt14bn sales figure, 48 percent is comprised of revenue from condominium sales, while the remaining 52 percent represents consistent consumer demand since last year for single homes,” said Settha. “August figures were especially strong, with Bt1bn sales from 145 single home units – a new record for the company. Consumer confidence is growing and there are also signs that an economic recovery is on the way.”

He added that since the beginning of last year, Sansiri´s marketing activities had also helped to strengthen the company brand across all residential sectors. These included the recent partnering with Siam Commercial Bank to launch the SCB Sansiri Platinum credit card which grants special privileges to Sansiri customers – a first in Thailand´s real estate industry.

The Sansiri Group also has a backlog of pre-sales receipts for various residential projects in excess of Bt18.4bn that will gradually be recognised over the 3 years. Up to Bt16.3bn or 91 percent of this figure will be converted this year – an important source of revenue for the future, said Settha.

Projects being launch this quarter include two detached single home developments and two condominium developments. In addition, the company will host road shows at Siam Paragon, Central Chidlom, and Central Bangna.

“The real estate industry has already begun to recover and this is because consumers have greater confidence in the political situation, which is showing more stability. Sansiri is now focused on expanding its offerings and developing its comprehensive services for our customer base,” said Settha.

SOURCE: Property Report.com

Executive vice president for business and project development (high rise) Uthai Uthaisangsuk said the company plans to launch 10 new condominium projects worth nearly Bt11 billion next year. Those located close to the planned new and extension routes for the Skytrain will be sold for between Bt50,000 and Bt80,000 per square metre.

“This is the customer group we are targeting now – thanks to the new mass-transit routes,” he said.

According to Uthai, the government’s policy to expand the Skytrain system has brought about a change in Bangkok’s property market, with demand increasing in areas located between the inner city and the suburbs. The company’s plan to launch new projects in these areas is a direct result of this shift, he said.

Sansiri is in negotiations to buy undeveloped land along the extension routes from Sathorn Station to Wongwian Yai Station and from On Nut Station to Baring Station. Residences along the routes will fetch between Bt70,000 and Bt80,000 per square metre, targeting the middle-income market. Sansiri plans to launch a new brand to market these projects, Uthai said.

The company has several brands of city condominiums, each targeting a different customer group. The brands include Prive, about 76 percent of whose units have been sold; Preen (92 per cent); Hive Taksin (80 per cent); Hive Sukhumvit Soi 65 (80 per cent); Quattro by Sansiri (70 per cent); and Blocs 77 (61 per cent).

Uthai said demand for condominiums with convenient access to the mass-transit system has continued to grow, but is largely limited to locations between 100 metres and 200 metres from the transport network. Sansiri is limiting projects located more than one kilometre from the extended rail network to low-rise residential structures such as townhouses and detached houses.

Between 60 and 70 per cent of Sansiri’s customers buy condominium units as a primary residence, with the remainder buying in order to rent the residence out, or for other investment purposes, Uthai said.

According to a survey conducted by the company, customers who buy units to live in see an average return on investment of 6 per cent. Those who rent out their units see an average return of 10 per cent. Some customers who sell their units after two or three years have seen returns exceeding 100 per cent, Uthai said.

Sansiri is interested in launching new condominium projects in Pattaya, Phuket and Hua Hin next year, forecasting strong demand in these locations, he said.

The company already has two condominium projects in Hua Hin: Baan Nub Kluen (82 per cent of its 180 units have been sold) and Baan Sansuk (81 percent of 229 units sold).

Most customers buying residences in Hua Hin are Thai, Uthai said, so the projects are unlikely to be adversely affected by any sudden loss of interest in the Thai market on the part of foreigners.

SOURCE: The Nation

Executive vice president Uthai Uthaisangsuk said the company expected to close sales for the project in the first quarter of 2010.

To meet this target, the company has redesigned some units, including the penthouse, under the theme Nautica Blue Villa.

The blue design was selected to match the units’ natural raw materials, including wood and fabric.

Sansiri senior manager for product development, Jariya Janjerdsak, said the use of natural materials created a textured look and feel. The design of the project is intended to convey a feeling of being close to nature.

With floor space of 238 square metres, the penthouse has three bedrooms and three bathrooms – and a price tag of Bt25 million.

One of the unit types – Coastal Rustic Beach – makes prominent use of earth tones, Jariya said, in a design intended to relax the resident. These two-bedroom, two-bathroom units have floor space of 101 square metres and sell for Bt10 million.

There are six other types of units: Coral Green (89.47 square metres, Bt6.95 million), Modern Sand (144.01 square metres, Bt15 million), Sunny Sand (89.5 square metres, Bt6.04 million), Arctic Blue, (88.91 square metres, Bt6.16 million), Romantic Beach (91 square metres, Bt6.2 million) and Cozy Summer (88.98 square metres, Bt7 million).

SOURCE: The Nation

Sansiri executive vice president for business and project development (high rise) Uthai Uthaisangsuk said the company will shell out nearly Bt11 billion in 2010 for the said projects.

Uthai revealed those located close to the planned new and extension routes for the Skytrain will be sold for between Bt50,000 and Bt80,000 per square metre.

The company’s executive vice president revealed the government’s policy to expand the Skytrain system has brought about a change in Bangkok’s property market, with demand increasing in areas located between the inner city and the suburbs.

He said the company’s plan to launch new projects in these areas is a direct result of this shift.

At the moment, he said Sansiri is in negotiations to buy undeveloped land along the extension routes from Sathorn Station to Wongwian Yai Station
and from On Nut Station to Baring Station.

The executive vice president said residences along the routes will fetch between Bt70,000 and Bt80,000 per square metre, targeting the middle-income market.

Uthai said Sansiri plans to launch a new brand to market these projects.
The company has several brands of city condominiums, each targeting a different customer group. The brands include Prive, about 76 percent of whose units have been sold; Preen (92 per cent); Hive Taksin (80 per cent); Hive Sukhumvit Soi 65 (80 per cent); Quattro by Sansiri (70 per cent); and Blocs 77 (61 per cent).

Moreover, Uthai explained the demand for condominiums with convenient access to the mass-transit system has continued to grow, but is largely
limited to locations between 100 metres and 200 metres from the transport network.

Sansiri is limiting projects located more than one kilometre from the extended rail network to low-rise residential structures such as townhouses and detached houses.

He said between 60 and 70 per cent of Sansiri’s customers buy condominium units as a primary residence, with the remainder buying in order to rent the residence out, or for other investment purposes.

According to a survey conducted by the company, customers who buy units to live in see an average return on investment of 6 per cent. Those who rent out their units see an average return of 10 per cent.

Some customers who sell their units after two or three years have seen returns exceeding 100 per cent.

Sansiri is interested in launching new condominium projects in Pattaya, Phuket and Hua Hin next year, forecasting strong demand in these locations, he said.

The company already has two condominium projects in Hua Hin: Baan Nub Kluen (82 per cent of its 180 units have been sold) and Baan Sansuk (81 percent of 229 units sold).

Most customers buying residences in Hua Hin are Thai, Uthai said, so the projects are unlikely to be adversely affected by any sudden loss of interest in the Thai market on the part of foreigners.

SOURCE: http://www.news-realestatethailand.com/featured-real-estate-news-and-articles/leading-housing-developer-eyes-10-condo-units-2010/