The residential market, which slowed in the first seven months because of an uncertain global economy, concerns over defaults on bond payments and a condo case, is projected to rebound in the fourth quarter driven by international buyers, says a developer.
Atika Boonrodchoo, assistant managing director of SET-listed Sena Development, said the market should pick up in the fourth quarter as the economy recovers and political outlook becomes clearer.
"The fourth quarter is usually the most active period," she said.
"With a rise in foreign tourist arrivals, this positive momentum will extend to the residential market, with the main buyers being foreigners."
Ms Atika said the most active property buyers were from China, Hong Kong, Russia and Myanmar.
Atika: Foreign buyers to drive gain
To capitalise on these markets, Sen X Plc, one of its subsidiaries, established an international sales department and sales booths in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Myanmar to introduce Sena's condo units.
"Purchases by Thai buyers in the first half were flat because of various issues, such as high household debt and increased personal expenses from higher fuel prices," she said.
Given the unfavourable market conditions in the first half, which fell short of earlier estimates, and a rise in construction materials prices, Sena postponed the launch of new projects to the second half, said Ms Atika.
In the first half, the company launched six projects worth a combined 4.37 billion baht.
A total of 24 projects worth a combined 28.8 billion baht are planned for the entire year, she said.
The market was also stung in June and July by negative news involving two listed developers: All Inspire Development and Ananda Development.
These issues included defaults on bond payments and a court ruling to revoke the construction permit for the Ashton Asoke condo.
"Those cases affected the property market, prompting developers to exercise caution in expenditure and cash flow management in order to build confidence among shareholders and investors, preventing any disruptions to business operations," said Ms Atika.
On Aug 15, Sena announced an omission of the interim dividend payment as it wanted to maintain its financial stability given the bond default by All Inspire Development.
During the first half of the year, Sena recorded 239 million baht in net profit on total revenue of 1.87 billion baht.
The company reported no obstacles in cash flow management, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.4 times as of the end of June 2023.
Sena said it would consider paying dividends again at the end of the year.