Thai property market slumps as transfers drop for 2nd successive year

Bucking the trend were condominium transfers, which experienced a 7.7% rise after the government’s mortgage and transfer fee cut

Residential property transfers in 2024 fell 5.2% from the previous year to 347,799 units, the Government Housing Bank’s Real Estate Information Centre (REIC) reported on Thursday.

The value of residential transfers also dropped 6.3% year on year to 980.64 billion baht, the centre said.

The Thai housing market has been in decline since 2023, when transferred units and property value dropped by 6.6% and 1.7%, respectively.

Properties priced 2-3 million baht and 7.5-10 million baht saw the biggest drop in transferred units last year, falling 13.3%. Property costing 1 to 1.5 million baht saw the smallest contraction at 1.5%.

Bucking the trend were condominium transfers, which experienced a 7.7% increase thanks to the government’s mortgage and transfer fee reduction, REIC’s acting director Kamolphob Weerapon said. However, horizontal property suffered a 10.6% drop in transferred units

Condo transfers in the fourth quarter increased 13.9% yoy, as buyers rushed to benefit from the 0.01% transfer fee for units costing under 7 million baht. The measure expired at year’s end.Kamolphob urged the government to consider extending the measure this year, saying the mortgage and transfer fee cut coupled with increasing the long-term lease period to 30 years would help boost the property market in 2025.

REIC predicted the following three scenarios for the property market in 2025.

Worst case: Transferred units drop 3.5% year on year to 335,719, and the value drops 3.7% to 944.81 billion baht.

Base case: Transferred units increase 1.6% to 353,389, with value rising 1.4% to 994.54 billion baht.

Best-case scenario: Transferred units increase 9.7% to 381,660, and the value increases 9.5% to 1.07 trillion baht.

(2025/02/27-00:00)