Resale condos in prime locations across Bangkok will remain attractive as selling prices are lower than those of new units and average capital gains remain strong, according to property consultants. Poomipak Julmanichoti, managing director of property consultant Plus Property Co, says Bangkok's resale condo market has grown more popular over the past four years, with selling prices 30-40% lower than those of newly-launched units in the same locations. "The price difference between newly-launched and resale condo units is driven by higher land prices. In prime locations where land plots are scarce, the price differences are quite large," he says. According to the company's research, selling prices of condo units launched in the Thong Lor area last year started at 275,000 baht per square metre, up from 176,000 baht per sq m in 2012 -- an increase of more than 56% in three years. Meanwhile, selling prices of projects completed in 2014 have soared to 230,000 baht per sq m at present, compared with 128,000 baht per sq m on those launched in 2012 -- an 80% increase in two years. In other prime locations, including Central Lumpini, Silom-Sathon and Sukhumvit, the asking price for new high-end condo supply in the first quarter this year was 215,395 baht per sq m on average, rising 7% year-on-year, reports property consultant CBRE (Thailand) Co. The highest price among the three locations was in Central Lumpini; up 5% to 241,700 baht. Average prices in Sukhumvit were 229,667 baht per sq m, rising 6%, and 220,000 baht in Silom-Sathon, an increase of 6%. For resale high-end condos, prices were quoted at 200,833 baht per sq m in Central Lumpini, 194,286 baht in Silom-Sathon, and 183,810 baht in Sukhumvit -- 192,976 baht on average in the first quarter -- rising 5%, 4.5%, 5% and 4.8% year-on-year, respectively. Mr Poomipak says condo prices in Bangkok have continued rising on average by 7.3% and 5.2% per year during the past five and 10 years, respectively. High-rise condos in the central business district have seen the highest price increases. CBRE managing director Aliwassa Pathnadabutr says the Bangkok condo market in the first quarter slowed across the board, with the number of newly launched condos having been in a downward trend since the fourth quarter last year. "In the first quarter, most large developers focused on transferring completed units and clearing built but unsold inventory to gain from the government's stimulus measures, which ran from October last year to April this year," she says. "As land prices are still rising, prices for newly launched condos in the best downtown locations will continue to increase. Those for suburban condo projects will slightly increase or stay flat, as there is still a large amount of supply waiting to be absorbed," adds Mrs Aliwassa.

By : Bangkok Post