The government should amend construction-related regulations and existing concessions on construction material resources to make the 2-trillion-baht infrastructure development smooth and viable, according to the private sector.
‘‘Overhead costs should be controlled at under 15%,’’ says Mr Anant at yesterday’s seminar.
Its impacts on the property sector will be positive and negative, said Issara Boonyoung, managing director of the property developer Kanda Property Co.
Decentralisation will be sped up but city planning should support the new infrastructure and accommodate the growth, he said.
On the other hand, there will be shortages of construction materials, mainly basic ones like stone and cement.
To solve this, the government should ease concession rules for some materials.
As for the prevailing labour shortage which will only worsen, the government should allow more labour movements from countries like Bangladesh to work in the property sector.
"We must also ensure that basic utilities like electricity and water supply are ready too," he said at yesterday's seminar.
Atip Bijanonda, managing director of the SET-listed developer Supalai Plc, said the megaprojects will open new locations for property development.
"The investment should not be too aggressive and spending should be prioritised. To ease the country's public debt burden, [the government] should seek financial instruments like infrastructure funds," he said.
Kittipol Pramoj Na Ayudhya, managing director of Sammakorn Plc, said the spending will boost farm income and in turn benefit housing development.
Chatchai Payuhanaveechai, executive vice-president of Kasikornbank, said housing loans this year will grow 8-9% after expanding 11.4% last year.
A slowdown in unit transfers was seen in the price range of 3-7 million baht for single houses and over 3 million baht for condos. Real demand for units priced 1-2 million baht each is healthy.
Anant Asavabhokin, president and CEO of the SET-listed Land and Houses Plc, said at another property seminar that developers should be more cautious about rising bad loans in the housing sector due to financial institutions' tighter lending.
"Accounts of units with low down payments may become bad loans as these buyers do not save much," he said.
He suggested developers focus on quality, services and development time. Instead of high ad spending, they should use the money on housing repairs while more marketing budgets should be shifted to online and direct channels.
"Overhead costs should be controlled at under 15%. Anything above 20% means we need to improve internal systems."