CI chief says price declines unlikely

PROPERTY

Thailand's political upheaval and the international financial meltdown will lower land prices and the appraisal values of built structures but they are unlikely to bring discounts on ongoing projects, said Songkran Issara, managing director of Charn Issara Development Plc. Prices of condominiums already under construction are unlikely to drop because developers generally lock in substantial sales before starting work, he said.

Songkran: High-rises out of fashion

Although protests and confrontations have affected the country for months, prices of good new property had remained steady until demonstrators closed Bangkok's airports in late November.

While uncertain about the near- and long-term impact of the eight-day closures from Nov 25 to Dec 2, Mr Songkran said uncertainty about the economic fallout would make it difficult to price new projects, although he expected none for a while.

''Big developers are also cutting back and not launching anything much. Actually, they have all stopped launching,'' he said.

For its part, Charn Issara now intends to focus over the next one or two years on completing its ongoing projects.

''So far, we are still standing firm but we don't know what will happen. We are now concentrating on doing all that we have to as well as we can,'' he said.

This listed developer reports that it has already transferred all houses at Baan Issara Rama IX estate to its clients and expects to soon complete sales of its Sri Panwa Resort villas in Phuket.

With the construction of Issara