By Andrew Batt:
Thailand was the third most popular property destination in the world last month for overseas property searches on one of the UK’s leading property portals.
According to the monthly Top of the Props data from TheMoveChannel.com the Kingdom accounted for 6.78 percent of all enquiries – a share that took Thailand into the top three countries – its highest ever ranking.
In the top spot, US real estate saw its dominance weaken slightly, with its share of enquiries falling from a record high of more than one in four in March to under one in five (18.97 percent). Spain retained its second place in the rankings, its share slipping from 13.82 percent to 10.16 percent.
But while the two main contenders stayed the same, the status quo was disrupted by Thailand, which leapt 14 places to take the number three spot.
After two months in the top 10 already this year, both the Cayman Islands and Thailand appear to be establishing themselves as equally familiar favourites. Thailand’s monthly fluctuations in demand are less volatile, though, as investors increasingly turn towards the stable market.
Indeed, at the start of the year, Thailand entered TheMoveChannel.com’s top 10 for the first time, climbing from 16th place to account for 2.37 percent of activity. In February, it fell back down to 15th with its share decreasing by 0.92 percent. This share shrank further in March, but April marked a second surge in interest, driven by demand for property in Pattaya.
The Cayman Islands also saw an extraordinary surge in demand, accounting for 6.6 percent of enquiries, just below Thailand and ahead of Brazil, France, Portugal and Turkey, all of whom lost out to the new boys on the chart.
Italian real estate was the only other member of the top 10 to see an increase in demand, attracting 3.18 percent of enquiries (up from 2.31 percent in February) as interest starts to return to the traditional European market.
Craig Turner, Managing Director of Rightmove Pattaya, has a view as to why buyers keep going back to Thailand.
He said: “Pattaya is not for everyone and is a bit like Marmite – you either love it or hate it, however you cannot ignore it. It has established itself as the single largest tourist destination in Thailand and is developing itself into being the second largest business region in the Kingdom after Bangkok.”
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email andrew@propertyguru.com.sg
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