Land prices on Koh Samui may rise by 11.8% this year with Chaweng beach remaining the priciest address at around 120 million baht a rai, independent real estate surveyor Agency for Real Estate Affairs said.
The agency has tracked land prices in Surat Thani's Koh Samui district since 2011 and found an average rise of 35% over the past four years, but only 2.4% from 2011-12 due to an economic slowdown. Prices began to jump again in 2013.
The company predicted that prices could rise as much as 11.8% this year, but might fall short of the forecast if the island is hit by new bombing. A car bomb exploded in Central Festival Samui on April 10, injuring seven people.
The growth forecast did not factor in the bombing at the Chaweng beach mall, which is still under investigation.
Sopon Pornchokchai, the company's president, said land prices for five-rai plots along the beach road in Chaweng were 300,000 baht per square metre, or 120 million baht a rai, in 2015. In 2011, it was just 80 million baht a rai.
The Lands Department, however, still appraises the beachfront land at just 4 million baht a rai.
The second-most expensive land on Koh Samui is around Lamai beach at 70 million baht a rai and about 25 million baht a rai in Bo Phud, Chueng Mon and Mae Nam beaches.
The lowest price is about 15 million baht a rai on beaches such as Bang Kao, Pangka and Taling Ngam. But available land on those beach is difficult to find.
The area that has seen the biggest increase since 2011 is the Leam Yai area where the price has tripled to 15 million baht a rai.
