PropStat Exclusive: analysis of the market trend for long term condominium leasehold in Bangkok

Is it Freehold or Leasehold? This sentence might be the most familiar sentence to hear for someone in the same age as me ( 41 years old +-) when showing parents locations for business like commercial buildings or modern home offices in the middle of the CBD area. For most Thai people, especially Thai-Chinese people, when asking about the right of owning a long term leasehold property seems to be related to a lease transaction in the form of a leasing (selling the right of the leasehold) that in the past used to be very popular with commercial building in some good location or being related to directly lease with the Landlord in short term of one or three-years contract but used to pay it monthly to open some shops. On the other side, if it is a residential property, either condominiums or houses, and do you believe that many Thai-people are not familiar, knowing the differences including the advantages/ disadvantages between fully freehold and long term leasing (Freehold). And if we take a look at the total Market Cap of the Leasehold condominium market, we will realize that the value of the market and the number of sales are significantly less than the Freehold condominium group as well. Most of the time, we will see that the group of Leasehold condominiums are usually limited and only located in the Super Prime Area of Bangkok. Some of them might have been developed in a leading holiday city like Phuket because the main group of customers are foreigners who are more familiar with the Leasehold market and there are no restrictions on the ownership for foreigners which is limited at only 49% of unit number for a Freehold project… And that might mean that Bangkok’s Leasehold Condominium market seems not to be that attractive among Thai buyers and the most of investors then? No, because the statistic that we will present in this article actually says that Bangkok’s Leasehold Condominium Market seems to increase in number of sales as well as the most expensive selling price per square meter which is higher than the Freehold condominium market in the same area!!

The Leasehold Condominium type seems to be something that we usually see in big cities around the world in many countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, United States, HongKong, China and Singapore. And in some of those countries, the Leasehold Condominium market used to have a bigger market share than the Freehold market. At the other side, the Leasehold condominium market in Bangkok only counts as 1% of the total number of Condominiums in Bangkok and they used to be located in the middle of the city that have a high potential and hard to find more land to develop some projects in the same level. Because most of the land owners belong to government agencies and also the Office of the King. In Bangkok nowaday, there are still relatively only few Leasehold Condominium projects that have been developed on private land. Even the definition of the word Leasehold does not seem to be any problem among most of the foreigner buyers. But most of the Leasehold condominiums in Thailand still have some limitations of the term of ownership which is less than in foreign countries (foreign countries used to have the limitation of 99-999 years). And the important thing is that they are so few that we can see the difference from the freehold condos that the owner of the condominium can own forever, with no expiration date, no contract of how long they can own the property. But those who buy the leasehold condo under Thai law will get the ownership of only 30 years (some projects might have the option to increase the right to own it for another 30 years). And when the contract expires, you have to return the ownership to the real owner of the property as well. 

The truth and the misunderstanding between Freehold and Leasehold condos

There are still many people who believe that buying Leasehold condos have more disadvantages than freehold condos in many factors like you can not own the land forever, the value of the project used to drop at the end of the contract and there is less chance for a reselling. But the truth is even if we buy a Freehold condo, it doesn’t mean that the land or the unit you buy will belong to you forever. There is no guarantee that after 60 years, most of the residents will not vote for an En-Bloc Sale to avoid the enormous cost for the renovation of the entire building. And even in some cases, it might be possible for an expropriation or getting rid of the right to own from the government as well. The parents might be worried for their children if they buy a Leasehold condo and in the future can not pass it over to their children because of the contract. But in the end, nobody knows that after 60 years their children will still want to stay in that place or not?

However, the truth is that Leasehold condo projects in many areas do have more value, more selling price than some Freehold condo projects in the same area as well. From the fact that developers added some reachable additional value in form of Brand Value and the term of service which is often in the form of Branded Residences to attract foreigner buyers and Thai people with high purchasing power who want to have an unique lifestyle. That is why we can see that many Leasehold projects can still get some profit from the resale. Unless the project has a remaining leasing contract for less than 10 years which means that people who buy it will find out that it is not worth the investment to lease it for others even if the profitability rate of the rental (Rental Yield) is higher than the Freehold condos in the same area because of the cheaper price. However, almost every Leasehold condos usually have a higher construction budget per square meter, using durable materials than the Freehold condos which have less guarantee period and also no need to mess with the After Sale or repair notification etc. because the whole ownership of the building belongs to the project owner who have the responsibility of the maintenance until the contract expires.

But there are three clearly brownback factors for Leasehold condos; they are the limited usage that you can not improve and change as much as you can because when the contract expires, you have to return it on it´s original condition or as the promise, the amount of loan from the bank used to have a limit of 70-80% including a less duration of installment and finally, the return that you will received from the Value of Appreciation is less than a Freehold condos of the same age and in the same area.

LEASEHOLD vs FREEHOLD

Which type of land is most likely to be developed as a Leasehold project

Condominium projects as a Leasehold type used to be quite attractive because of the selling price which is around 30% lesser than other condominiums in the same area and most of them used to be located in a good location. And the most important factor for the Leasehold project development is the ownership of the land to develop the project on. If it is a general land that belongs to a normal person or a general juristic person, it will then be a normal land purchase for the project development and then sell it as a completely Freehold property as well. But if the land belongs to the government, the Crown Property Bureau, hospital, education center or some private institution that does not want to sell the land, you will need to have a long term leasing period which by the law will be at maximum 30 years (by the first contract). And every developed project on this type of land must be sold as a 30-years Leasehold under the agreement of the leasing of the land too. Therefore, most of the projects on this type of land used to be developed as an office building, hotel, service apartment, shopping mall or various forms of retail stores with no need to sell the ownership of the land. If it is a special location with high potential and has a clearly targeted group of buyers like Langsuan, Ratchadamri, Wittayu where the land prices are higher and more difficult to find. The option to develop a land into a Leasehold condo project continues to be more accepted by buyers from the average price that is cheaper than the same level of condos in the same area which has the opportunity to get more profit from the rental. 

There are few land with a long-term leasing contract in Bangkok if compared to completely freehold land. As the statement above said, the land usually belongs to government agencies like The Treasury Department, various ministries, the Crown Property Bureau, Hospitals, Education Institutions like the Office of Property Management of Chulalongkorn University. The land that owns by those agencies above can not be sold, when someone wants to develop those land must then be developed in a form of long-term lease. Or some private person who doesn’t want to sell the land actually used to rent it out with a long-term lease.

The project “One City Centre” (OCC), an office building with A-grade located on high potential area in the middle of the city on Ploenchit Road is a project development on a Leasehold land by private (Thaniya Group) by Raimon Land Public Company Limited which have a partnership with a huge company like Mitsubishi Estate from Japan with a value of 8.8 billion baht. Divided into construction cost of 5.5 billion baht and the land leasing cost of 3.3 billion baht which expected to be done by 4 quarter of 2022.

A largest land plot of the same type which connected to each other is the area owned by the Office of Property Management Chulalongkorn University (PMCU) and connected to the land of The Crown Property Bureau which begins from Ban Tad Thong Road to Ratchadaphisek Road. Previously, there were some private people requested for a rent of a small land plot to develop a condominium project in this area and also the owner of the Office of Property Management Chulalongkorn University and the Crown Property Bureau had also developed various projects on their own area including condominiums with a long-term leasehold contract. Therefore, most of the long-term leasehold condominiums in Bangkok are usually located in this area as well.

Samyan Smart city project is a project with an idea by Chulalongkorn University to develop an area into a livable city. With a vision to develop the area into an innovative district and create value for the community and society including the quality of life and businesses aiming to get the best benefits for a good living of people of all ages. There are several phases of development, several projects (including Samyan Mitrtown) of almost 1153 Rai and divided into 3 main uses parts like 595 Rai of Education area, 374 Rai of Commercial area and 184 Rai of Government area.

Project development of BLOCK 33 by PMCU is a latest Mixed Use project with Leasehold contract in Samyan Smart city under the vision of “Residential & Wellness”. and this project is located next to Chulalongkorn 100 Years Park which is a big green area in the middle of the city with a leading medical center for the health promotion (Wellness Center & Medical Hub) to create a residential area that enhances good quality of life for a sustainable community in the heart of Bangkok. 

Source: https://pmcu.co.th/?page_id=10315

Locations of long-term leasehold condominium

Source: Khun Surachet Kongcheep, Managing Director of Phoenix Property Development & Consultancy Co.,Ltd.

From the information gathered, we found that there are 2 627 units of condominiums with long-term leasehold contracts that have been sold since 2009. And from the information also found out that Chulalongkorn Property Management office has also developed their own condominium project to sell it for their own officers and their own students and made the number of long-term leasehold condominiums in Chulalongkorn University´s area become number 1. The second place is the area around Lumpini Park (Central Lumpini District) that belongs to the Crown Property Bureau which is the area around Wittayu Road, Langsuan, Soi Ton Son and Rama 4. And from the information above shows that these 2 areas accounted for 84% of the number of long-term leasehold condominiums that sell in Bangkok. 

Central Lumpini District, a high-end street and most of the land is a Leasehold

Definition of Central Lumpini District area is comprised of 4 major roads like Langsuan Road, Chidlom Road, Wittayu Road, Ploenchit and perhaps along Rama 4 Road until the intersection of Sathorn Road. And this area is the one that has got consistently high average condo prices every year and has become the main area that has been used as a Benchmark with other important areas in the term of condos in the luxury category and upper class. By having an important physical feature that is located near Lumpini Park by just a few minutes walk, close to many large world-class shopping centers, many ways to connect to important CBD areas and the most importantly, it is an area that you hardly can find a Freehold land to develop any large-scale condo project anymore. And if only counting condos of world-class brands with super high price and known by foreigners, they are all located in the area of Langsuan-Wittayu-Chidlom.

Nowaday, most of the area around Langsuan have been Re-Development to have some variety and getting more livable to meet the needs of the group Global Millionaire who still looking for the best of their life including the millionaires of the Millennials age with a lifestyle of complex , modern in accordance with digital trends and always has an inseparable passion between work and life. Having Siamsintorn Company Limited, who developed a property project under the name of “Sintorn Village” (old name: Langsuan Village), the largest Mixed Use project in the area of Langsuan-Chidlom-Ton Son that has Siamsintorn Company Limited, affiliated company of the Crown Property Bureau, as a developer and also as an owner of the land. They have a concept to develop a sustainable society of living on an area of more than 56 Rai with 30 years Leasehold condo project like Sindhorn Residence, Sindhorn Tonson, Sindhorn Lumpini , Baan Sindhorn and Branded Residences like The Residences at Sindhorn Kempinski Hotel Bangkok including huge 5 stars hotels like Sindhorn Midtown, Kimton Maa-Lai Bangkok, Sindhorn Kempinski Hotel Bangkok, museum, Walking Street, large green garden and Commercial & Retail Space under the name of Velaa Sindhorn Village.

They have planned and determined the element inside the project by focusing on a good quality of life for the residents both inside and outside the project, consider about the scenery of the city, allowing the surrounded community and society to get a supportive benefit from the allocation of the space, do not create any traffic problems, having the highest standard of design and construction, using high quality of materials and equipment, energy saving and environmental protection building according to LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) with a green garden of 14 Rai in the middle of the project which  give a comfortable open air feeling for the residents and the community among the garden “Living in the Park”. For more information, please read: https://sindhornvillage.com/

There is also an easy connection to Wittayu Road, Ploenchit Road and Chidlom Road both by walking and by car from Langsuan Road. The area of Wittayu-Chidlom is a peaceful area where most of the land belongs to many leading embassies and can also connect to CBD-district like Sathorn, Ploenchit including Central Embassy where you can find many flagship store of world class Brand Name products and there are also 5 stars hotels like Park Hyatt Bangkok, Renaissance and Grand Hyatt Erawan. And in the future, there will be a project of Central Embassy Phase 2 that will be developed by CPN and Hong Kong Land on the land that belongs to the old Embassy of the United Kingdom which will raise this road to another higher class.

Photo source: http://www.centralembassy.com/park-hyatt/

The draft picture of the project Central Embassy Phase 2

Source: https://www.facebook.com/propholic2014/posts/3040124029420714/

On Wittayu Road, there will soon be a Leasehold Branded Residences that will be developed by Nai Lert Group (Nai Lert Park Development Company Limited) on the remaining land of more than 20 Rai which will officially opened for sale during this year like AMAN Nai Lert Bangkok. And Nai Lert group has expanded the real estate development by contracting a long-term business alliance with Aman, a world class hotel and resort brand, to develop a Mixed Use project “AMAN Nai Lert Bangkok” which will be located at Nai Lert Park, which is more than 100 years old. There will be a Residences Zone and hotel zone on a b39 floors building. There will be a residences zone of 18 floors, on 11th-28th floor with max 50 units of 4 types of room, they are a 1 bedroom residence from 104 sq.m., a 2 bedrooms residence from 232 sq.m., a 3 bedrooms of 371 sq.m. and penthouse from 1 109 sq.m. and sells as a 30 years leasehold contract and opportunity to extend the contract with another 30 years, total up to 60 years. The selling price will begin from 450 000 baht per square meter which is recorded as the Leasehold project with the highest selling price in Ploenchit-Wittayu area.

Source: https://www.aman.com/resorts/aman-nai-lert-bangkok/residences-to-own

Rama 4 Road is another area with a lot of upcoming leasehold condos projects. With the factor about the ownership of the land in the eastern area of Rama 4 Road, from around Samyan area all the way to Klongtoey intersection around Soi Phai Singto, almost 100% of this area is owned by the government or University like the Crown Property Bureau, Chulalongkorn University, Thai Red Cross Society and Treasury Department. Some of the land in this area is opened for the private sector to give a bid to start the development of projects with the form of land leases. They have some important leasehold condo projects in this area, and they are

The Triple Y Residence which is located at Sam Yan intersection, next to Chulalongkorn University, near Silom, near MRT Sam Yan-Station with the Underpass which is an underground walk-way directed into the project as well. And in the project, there are a shopping center, office area, hotel, food court, learning center that allow 24 hours activities.  The project with the name of Samyan Mitrtown is counted to be a leasehold condo project with the cheapest selling price in the market when compared to other areas.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/SAMYANMITRTOWN/photos/1088075204927762

The One Bangkok Residence project is one of three Ultra Luxury Residences projects which is a part of ONE Bangkok project on the area of around 104 Rai that belongs to the Crown Property Bureau which originally was a military school and Suan Lum Night Bazaar project. This project developed by TCC Assets (Thailand) Co.Ltd and Frasers Centrepoint Limited (FCL), part of TCC Group, located at the same building as The RITZ-CARLTON Hotel, the nearest building and has the full view of Lumpini Park. The building has 50 floors, 250 meters tall which divided the usage into hotel zone and condo zone and with separated facility area and has a total 110 units with the type of 2-4 bedrooms starting with the size of 130 square meters.

Dusit Residences and Dusit Parkside project is the Branded Residences project of 69 floors with 389 units in total (divided into 159 units of Dusit Residences and 230 units of Dusit Parkside) which is a part of Dusit Central Park project, a huge Mixed Use project worth over 3 billion baht at Saladaeng intersection at the corner of Silom Road. This is a joint development between Dusit Thani Public Company Limited and Central Pattana Public Company Limited that have got a 60 years leasing contract from the Crown Property Bureau, excluding 7 years of the construction time, which means in total of 67 years leasing contract. This is one of the biggest investment that Dusit Thani Group have ever made, who wants to develop and raise the class of the important business area in the middle of Bangkok, that once belongs to Dusit Thani Hotel Bangkok, into a huge Mixed Use project with a consistent of hotels, residential buildings, office buildings and shopping center with a total area of approximately 403 000 square meters. And about the hotel part, Dusit Thani Bangkok Hotel, which will be redesigned to be a new important Landmark in Bangkok with the average selling price around three hundred thousand baht per square meter.

Source: https://dusitresidences.com/residence/

The notable point is, there may be some leasehold condos for sale in other areas, but when discussing the attractiveness we will find out that the area around Central Lumpini District is most attractive. Because this area is limited and also located in the middle of the main business area of Thailand and there are also several projects that were developed by affiliates of the Crown Property Bureau who is the owner of the land in that area and that is the reason why they have got more attention than other areas. While condominium projects in the area of Chulalongkorn University have their focus on their own officers and students, except the latest project like Triple Y Residence this area which have been developed by a private entrepreneur who leased the land of Chulalongkorn Property Management Office. And we can now see that these 2 areas have their own relatively clear buyers and the areas itself are very interesting and already have their own potential.

Long-term leasehold right condominiums classified by the selling years

Notice: Only count projects that officially launched for sale

Source: Khun Surachet Kongcheep, Managing Director of Phoenix Property Development & Consultancy Co.,Ltd.

There are few long-term leasehold condos for sale in Bangkok. The year with the most selling number of this type of condos only had a number of 826 units while some year was no sale for this type of project at all. The main limitation that has nothing to do with the ownership of the land is this type of condos do not get so much attention from Thai buyers because they already can buy a freehold condo if they want to, except some projects that are located in specific areas like area around Lumpini Park and  area around Chulalongkorn University. Projects that are located outside these areas must have their own selling gimmick that is not less than other projects in the same area, for example located at the Chao Phraya riverside, more parking lot than the number of units and located in some main business or commercial area of Bangkok.

It’s predicted that from the year 2021, it is possible that there will be around 1000 new long-term leasehold right condominium units launched and all of them will be around Lumpini Park which will be developed by a private entrepreneur who leased the land from the Crown Property Bureau. All of these condominiums will be in the huge Mixed-Use project like ONE Bangkok and Dusit Central Park. More than that, Chulalongkorn University Property Management Office is now developing their own condominium project in their own area to launch on sale for their own officers and students and might be ready for grand sale in 2021 or after that. 

Average rate of the selling number of long-term leasehold right condominiums

Source: Khun Surachet Kongcheep, Managing Director of Phoenix Property Development & Consultancy Co.,Ltd.

The average rate of the selling numbers of long-term leasehold right condominiums in Bangkok today is around 78%. Many projects have closed their selling or have got a very high selling number because of the location and potential of the project itself including the surrounding area and also being more attractive than other projects that sell with the right in other areas or the same area. The main factor is that they have around 20-30% cheaper selling price than freehold right condominium projects in the same area.

The location and cheaper selling price like this is quite interesting for Thai buyers because there were some mind changes for some people. By being the owner of the residence for 30 years (with the opportunity to extend the contract for another 30 years) is more acceptable.  Especially the new generation who don’t have their own kids and have the opportunity to live in a good location and good environment and if they want to have a freehold right residence, they have to pay a lot more than this.

Leasehold Condominium in Bangkok

The future of Leasehold condos market

From the statistical information and the fact we have told before , we can now predict that in the nearest future, the purchasing of condos with long-term leasehold right contracts will be more and more common with 3 main factors like 1. The land price around Super Prime Area will be much higher and no land left in some area. Also, the landlords in this area do not have any problem with money as the same as the government agencies who still have some land left and are waiting for the entrepreneur to lease it and add the value into the land as well. 2. A changing of living behavior of the consumers. Today, even if many people are in a relationship but still choosing the way of not having kids and choose to have a freedom lifestyle. Living in the middle of the city without any obligations in the future especially obligations about the maintenance, renovation and insurance of the condo etc. Including the obligation about the tax of the land and property and seeing it as unnecessary to deliver the assets to someone for an inheritance.   Also most of elder buyers with a high purchasing potential who can not get any loan from the bank usually buy the leasehold condo with cash at a better location and get the service like Hotel Residences and the price is almost 30% cheaper than a Freehold condo. And 3. Suitable for the increasing demand of foreigners who want to have a long-term residence in Bangkok and most of those foreigner buyers are familiar with the location that these leasehold projects are located. They don’t think that buying some leasehold condo is something unusual or disadvantageous because the purchase and transfer conditions are easier than a Freehold condo. And if they don’t live there themself, they can then lease it to earn some money at a better rate than a freehold condo. And in the future if it can be an extension of the leasehold right to be longer and being at the same line as international market and also get the additional privileges from the package of Thailand Elite Card in Elite Flexible One project which is currently under the discussion, it would make the leasehold condo market mush more lively than ever.

Currently, there are some additional measures to help stimulate the Leasehold Project market by the Department of Lands Ministry of Interior which announced the Act on Property Based on Right of year 2019 with an effect from 18 November 2020. This is another factor that will help promote and stimulate the economy of the Property sector that will give the allowance to the owner of the right to add some more value to their own property by allowing the usage of their own property but no need to transfer the right to the user at all. This is the way helping the preservation of the property for the children in the future and the applicant who requests the establishment based on the right have to be the owner of the land with the title deed in hand, the land with a property built on it or condominiums under the law of condominiums. When you have a request about letting another person use the property, you can apply for a registration of property establishment based on the title deed of the land or the title deed of an apartment from the competent officer and the applicant can set the conditions and period of the usage for max 30 years and they will give a “Property based on rights certificate” to the owner of the property. Therefore, if someone requests the usage of the property, you can immediately sign to certificate the transfer of the right holding and  the transferee will then become the owner of therighr and calls “ the Right owner” and has the same right as the original owner  which means that they can transfer to another person, mortgage it or even give it away as an inheritance as well.. With the Act Property with the Right, the tenant of the land can be enabled to mortgage the land with any financial institutions, using the contract to engage in other transactions, renovate the room and hand over the leasehold contract to the heirs or grandchildren if some of the lease partners died and also easier than the registration in the old way at the Land Department.

Source:  https://mgronline.com/stockmarket/detail/9630000127770

For the market of buying for investment. Today, there are some investors who are interested in buying a long-term leasehold condominium in prime areas like the area around Lumpini Park, area around Chulalongkorn University with the hope for return of the renting and do not care about the increasing land price. Because the price of long-term leasehold condominiums will decrease along with the elapsed term of the contract. But with the price which is cheaper than other freehold projects, it is then still attractive to buy for the investment of leasing. The investment of a long-term condominium project is then an attractive choice for some investors.

At least, whether you decide to buy a leasehold or freehold project. The first factor you need to think about is why are you buying this project. If you really like that location and the budget is the most important for the purchasing, and you don’t need to get a loan from the bank, a leasehold condo might then be a good choice for you. But if you see the purchasing of condo as a passing over to your children as an inheritage, planning their future, do not need to be in a Super Prime area which have a higher selling price, still need to get a loan from the bank for the purchasing and need to get a certain guarantees for the future that even if the time past, you will still be enable to sell it with a good price. Then the Freehold condo might be a good choice for you as well.