The opening of the MRT Blue Line extension from Hua Lamphong to the Thon Buri area in last year's fourth quarter boosted residential prices in the first quarter of 2020, with Wat Mangkon station posting the highest increase in four years.
Kamolpat Swaengkit, country manager of property portal website DDproperty.com, said many locations near newly opened MRT stations saw a jump in residential prices.
"Prices in locations near Wat Mangkon station rose 143% during 2017-20 to 200,000 baht per square metre, driving Pomprap Sattruphai district to the highest growth rate in the residential price index in the first quarter," she said.
Two new MRT extension lines, the Hua Lamphong-Lak Song section and the Tao Poon-Tha Phra section, started running in September 2019 and December 2019 with 11 and eight new stations, respectively.
Along the two sections, locations near nine stations saw an increase in residential prices over four years, six saw a drop, and Sam Yod and Sanam Chai stations have no residential projects.
Bang Khae and Lak Song stations followed with growth of 117% to 57,692 baht per sq m, while Bang O and Bang Phlat stations saw an increase of 76% to 85,009 baht per sq m.
The largest drop was at Bang Khun Non station with a 56% decrease to 53,476 baht per sq m.
DDproperty reported yesterday that the first-quarter residential price index in Bangkok posted a quarterly drop of 1% and a year-on-year decline of 9% because of the coronavirus crisis.
"This decline was not a surprise, as supply was too high and developers wanted to drain their stock with attractive campaigns," Mrs Kamolpat said. "Property prices continue to rise in the long run, given a jump of 104% to 120,000 baht per sq m in five years."
All housing categories except single detached houses saw a decrease in average price, suggesting that real demand dominated the market in the first quarter.
As new supply was launched in lower volume and developers shifted focus to selling existing stock, total outstanding supply in the first quarter fell slightly. The trend could continue in the second quarter.
The largest quarterly supply drop was in condos, down 10%, followed by townhouses (down 4%) and single detached houses (down 3%). The latter two segments saw their first drop in two years, driven by real demand and property incentives.
DDproperty noted a rise in page views of for-sale listings during the coronavirus crisis.
In Bangkok, the location with the most searches during the crisis was Thawi Watthana district, up 35% from the pre-outbreak period.
The number of viewers searching for rental property fell in April as people returned to their home provinces, worked from home or looked to cut costs during the crisis, Mrs Kamolpat said.