Despite recording a 30% increase in visitor numbers at the House & Condo Show last month, the residential market in Greater Bangkok in the first quarter of 2024 remained unfavourable, attributed to poor purchasing power.
Tritecha Tangmatitham, managing director of SET-listed developer Supalai, said market sentiment in the first quarter carried over from the second half of last year.
"The mortgage rejection rate in the first quarter has not improved, remaining steady," he said.
"Purchasing power remained weak. Customers did not perceive it as the right time to buy a home."
Mr Tritecha said the negative sentiment stemmed from a lack of confidence in the economy and increased financial burden because of higher debt levels.
"The market's swift recovery following the pandemic was initially driven by people's optimism about an overall improvement," he said.
"However, after some time passed, they realised this was not the case."
Many negative factors continue to affect housing demand.
Government spending was delayed, while infrastructure improvements were not as substantial as expected, with certain mass transit lines, such as the Orange Line, still not in operation, said Mr Tritecha.
Interest rates are elevated, at similar levels to five years ago, with consumers waiting for them to fall, he said.
"For developers, sales in the first quarter were a challenge, especially for residential units in the lower-end segment, as consumers have higher expenses," said Mr Tritecha.
"The middle- to upper-end is performing better."
Supalai recorded housing sales of 250 million baht from the House & Condo Show held on March 21-24, marking a 25% increase from 200 million in March last year. The expo is held two times a year.
The expo's organiser reported total sales of 4.5 billion baht during the latest four-day event, up from 4 billion at the previous edition held in November last year.
The number of participants also rose by 30%.
"The increase in visitors is because large developers joined the expo and other events were held at the same venue that targeted the same audience," he said.
"It did not indicate positive sentiment, considering the relatively low number of walk-ins at project sites."
Another large developer at the expo was Sansiri, with a booth spanning 180 square metres, up from 72 sq m in November 2023.
Sansiri reported sales of 800 million baht during the event.