AP (Thailand) Public Company Limited has been crowned champion for the fifth consecutive year as the largest developer in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR). BMR housing markets is considered to be half of the total housing market in the country.

Dr. Sopon Pornchokchai, President, Agency for Real Estate Affairs (www.area.co.th) announced the results of the housing market survey at the end of 2024, finding that the leader in the real estate industry is AP (Thailand) Public Company Limited, which launched a total of 42 projects, 8,757 units, worth 47,778 million baht (USD 1.405 billion), with an average price of 5.456 million baht (USD 160,471), being the “champion” in terms of both the number of units and the development value.

AP (Thailand) Public Company Limited, which developed 8,757 new units, is 14.2% of all sales units opened in 2024 or about one-seventh of the total.   In terms of the value of the development launched at 47,778 million baht, it is 11.5% of all launched at a value or about one-ninth of the total value, which is considered very high, much higher than the next-ranked companies.

In terms of number of units, the companies that developed in 2nd-5th place were Noble Development PCL in 2nd place , Supalai PCL in 3rd place , Sansiri PCL in 4th place , and AssetWise PCL in 5th place . In terms of development value, it turned out that the 2nd place was SC Asset Corporation PCL, 3rd place was Land and Houses PCL, 4th place was Sansiri PCL, and 5th place was Noble Development PCL.

The company that sold the highest price was Ananda Development PCL, which launched 2 projects with only 62 units, with a combined value of 15,696 million baht (USD 462 million), or 253.155 million baht (USD 7.445 million) per unit.   This case may be an exception. The company that usually develops products with the highest average price is SC Asset Corporation PCL, which in 2024 developed 17 projects with a combined value of 32,676 million baht (USD 961 million), with 1,648 units, or 19.827 million baht (USD 583,147)per unit .

During the 31 years of our survey of the Agency for Real Estate Affairs, the previous “champion” was probably Bangkok Land PLC, which developed Muang Thong Thani in various sub-projects. Then it was Land and Houses PLC., which focused on higher income housing developed in various locations. Then it was Pruksa Real Estate PLC, because in addition to developing in many locations, it also developed in various price ranges. Therefore, it was the champion for a long time until about five years ago, AP (Thailand) PLC came in to replace it. Then Pruksa Real Estate PLC went on to develop other real estate types that generated regular income, such as office buildings, hospitals, and agriculture.

If we look at the overall picture, we can see that the first 10 companies were all public companies, with a total of 56% of the total units, or 34,711 units out of a total of 61,453 units. In terms of the value of new developments in 2024, the first 10 companies had a combined value of as high as 260,538 million baht (USD 7.663 billion) or 63% or almost two-thirds of the entire market, showing that the real estate business is a semi-monopoly business.

Although listed companies had a larger market share than they did 10 years ago, there was no need to worry about one or two companies dominating the market because there is healthy competition among large companies. In principle, no one can capture even half of the market share because real estate products are location-oriented and no one can provide products in every location. This is unlike moveable properties which can be sold all over the world.

However, the government should increase the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by requiring all companies to enter into a contract to protect consumers’ down payment (Escrow Account Act), which is currently on voluntary basis. Large public companies do not want to do it because they do not want to increase costs. Small companies will be at a disadvantage to large companies because they will have higher costs if they do. If all companies are required to have insurance, with both the company and the buyer jointly responsible for this coverage, the brands of small companies will be uplifted to similar to those of listed firms. At present, large companies rely only on their brands and reputations as a guarantee of peace of mind for customers.

Therefore, the government should amend the law or ask for cooperation from all entrepreneurs to enforce compulsory Escrow Account Act to protect the down payment of the contracting party. Then, home buyers will have confidence and the market will be more mature.