Expats living in Thailand make up 90% of property rentals over 20,000 baht ($550) in Bangkok.
The Sathorn Heritage serviced apartment
Furthermore, the number of expats with work permits for Bangkok continues to rise, approximately 81,000, an 8.6% increase from the same time last year.
The first area of choice to live in for expats is along the prime Sukhumvit road due to an overwhelming selection of modern amenities and convenience the skytrain provides for work and leisure. The second most popular areas were Sathorn and Lumpini.
In these popular areas, expats demonstrated a strong demand for serviced apartments. Why?
- Apartments have larger 2-3 bedroom living spaces
- Apartments are owned by a single entity that can be reached directly for any requests and necessary maintenance
- Apartments offer day, month and yearly rates
An impressive example of this is the Philo Residence, an 8-storey serviced apartment on Sukhumvit 24 that was completed this June. Within 3 months of completion, it was entirely rented out. 60% of its tenants were Japanese, the remaining 40% came from other Asian, European and North American countries. The sole agent responsible was CBRE.
These expatriate-type apartments have an impressive 90% occupancy rate but supplies are limited. It is estimated that there are only 11,000 of these expatriate-type apartments in popular areas and only 415 new apartments under construction.
By stark contrast, 92,800 condos are estimated in the same areas with 27,000 new units coming down the pipeline. Total condominium occupancy rate is 80%. Of that total, approximately 30-40% of the units are bought to sublet.
Looking at the expat to serviced apartment and condominium relationship, smaller condominium units do compete in the studio and one-bedroom for their share of the market. In some cases, condominiums offer similar facilities as serviced apartments at even lower prices.
However, 63% of the new condominium units under construction are planned to be studio and one-bedroom units leaving the large 2-3-4 bedroom apartments with next to no competition. This is especially significant for foreign workers expatriated to Bangkok with corporate housing allowances and room to spare.
Source: CBRE
Award Winning serviced apartments in Bangkok
Ascott Sathorn Bangkok (World Travel Award Winner for Thailand’s Leading Serviced Apartment 2013 & 2015)
The Acott serviced apartments located in Sathorn
Somerset Park Suanplu Bangkok (World Travel Award Winner for Thailand’s Leading Serviced Apartment 2014)
Somerset located in Sathorn on Suan Plu street
Fraser Suites Sukhumvit (World Travel Award Winner for Thailand’s Leading Serviced Apartment 2011)
Fraser Suites located on Sukhumvit 11