1h 2010 | residential

thailand

Samui Residential Report

Condominium & Villa

Executive Summary
Condominiums are fast becoming part of the landscape in Samui after the first units were supplied
in 2007. There are now nearly 340 units as of H1 2010.

Most existing and future condominium developments mostly cater for the high end market,
although others are more modest in scale and affordability.

market indicators The majority of residential units are used in one way or another to cater to the hospitality industry
as the nature of the island makes this an attractive option for buyers seeking to generate income.
2H 2009 1H 2010
Many villa projects remain on hold for financial reasons after the global downturn and Thailand’s
Supply domestic political woes over the past eighteen months.
LAUNCHES
Villa developments are expected to continue to be supplied in the next few years, especially in the
PRICES Bo Phut and Cheong Mon area.

TAKE-UP

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SAMUI RESIDENTIAL REPORT | 1H 2010 | CONDOMINIUM & VILLA

Zoning
bungalows. Nightlife in Chaweng is very popular
Bang Po: Bang Po beach is located on the
due to the wide assortment of restaurants and
northwest of Samui and contains very limited
bars. There are a limited number of residential
accommodation, however this is set to change
projects in the area, as it is mostly occupied by
over the next few years. There are few tourists
hotels, restaurants, bars and shops.
and shopping facilities in this area although a
number of restaurants operate.
Lamai: This area is comprised of Lamai beach
and Hua Thanon beach. Lamai is the second
Mae Nam: Mae Nam beach is located in the
longest beach on Samui, and although Lamai is
north of Samui and there are many 4 - 5 star
smaller than Chaweng it also has a number of
hotels and restaurants along the road and
luxury hotels and high quality eating and
beach.
drinking establishments as well as guesthouses
for backpackers.
Bo Phut: This area contains the widest variety
of facilities and real estate on the island. Visitors
South Coast: The South Coast beaches are
can find the fisherman’s village, mid-range to
amongst the least developed part of Samui with
upmarket restaurants, cafes and bars, luxury
only a few resorts along the beach, so these
hotels to budget guesthouses and residential
places are peaceful and suitable for relaxation
projects.
and where you can find local seafood
restaurants.
Cheong Mon: Cheong Mon is located in the
northeast of Samui. This is the most popular
West Coast: This area is comprised of Nathon
area for residential projects on Samui. This
beach, Lipa Noi beach, Taling Ngam beach to
area is not far from airport, and many foreigners
Thong Tanote beach. The Ferry pier and local
choose to live here as it is a relatively tranquil
government offices on Samui are located in
location
Nathon beach, so this area is very busy in the
day time; meanwhile in Taling Ngam the area is
Chaweng: Chaweng is the most well known
very quiet.
and longest beach on Samui, and accommodation
ranges from 4 – 5 star hotels to budget

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 SAMUI RESIDENTIAL REPORT | 1H 2010 | CONDOMINIUM & VILLA

Samui Condominium Market

Current Supply, H1 2010

Source: Department of land, Colliers International Thailand Research

Many residential projects on Samui are small in
nature and some of them are not officially
registered at the Department of Land, due to a
number of them planning to change from
residential use to that of hotel. Therefore the
number of condominium units listed here may
be slightly less than the real figure.
project in Samui was registered in 2007, and
since then the figure has grown every year,
especially in 2009 with around 150 units
completed and registered. For the first half of
2010 around 60 units were supplied and
approximately 330 units are scheduled to be
completed for the whole of 2010.

The average unit per project on Samui is just

30, due to some projects on the island only
having 7 – 8 units. The first condominium

By location

Source: Colliers International Thailand Research

Around 64% of condominium project units on
Samui are located in the Bo Phut area; Bo Phut
is not far from the airport and has its own
nightlife area as well as being close to Chaweng.
There are also many retail outlets in this area.
In the next few years condominium projects
will pan out from Bo Phut to the surrounding
beaches, such as Mae Nam, Cheong Mon and
Bang Po

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SAMUI RESIDENTIAL REPORT | 1H 2010 | CONDOMINIUM & VILLA

Future supply

Cumulative future supply scheduled to be completed during the years 2010 – 2012
by location.
(As of H1 2010)

Source: Colliers International Thailand Research

Cheong Mon is the new area for condominium
projects in the years 2011 – 2012 with
approximately 230 units scheduled to be
completed by 2012. Bang Po also has 140 new
units that are scheduled to be completed in
2012. There is a lack of supply of land suitable
for new condominium projects in the Bo Phut
area therefore no new supply is due in the next
couple of years. Lamai and the West coast will
see the first condominiums rising this year.

Take up rate

Take up rate of all projects in the market, as of H1 2010

Source: Colliers International Thailand Research

The take up rates in Bo Phut and Chaweng are
higher than in other locations, this is due to
these areas being not far from the airport and
equipped with various facilities, such as
restaurants, hypermarkets, convenience stores,
hospitals and entertainment. However in Bo
Phut area there are nearly 220 condominium
units, while Chaweng has around 60 units.
Although Cheong Mon is not far from the
airport; due to limited facilities and high prices
for units here, the take up rate is considerably
lower.

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Price

Selling price of total projects on Samui

Selling Price (THB / Sq M.)

Zone
Min. Max. Avg.
Bang Po 33,500 146,000 113,375
Mae Nam 39,500 80,000 59,750
Bo Phut 40,000 67,000 53,500
Cheong Mon 52,000 130,000 80,717
Chaweng 55,200 99,000 77,100
Lamai 34,500 35,800 35,150
South Coast 120,000 125,500 122,750
West Coast 154,500 156,500 155,500
Average Price 69,886 110,400 92,049
Source: Colliers International Thailand Research

AVERAGE SELLING PRICE OF TOTAL PROJECTS ON SAMUI

Source: Colliers International Thailand Research

Prices differ based on location in terms of
beach access, road access and attractiveness
of the area. The West Coast is based on limited
supply so may not be a good indicator. The
more expensive locations contain condominium
units by the beach while lower rates can be
found in other zones due to the units being
located some way from the beach.

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SAMUI RESIDENTIAL REPORT | 1H 2010 | CONDOMINIUM & VILLA

Samui Villa Market

Note: This report consists of research in regards to multiple villa developments. Individual villas
are excluded.

Current supply by year, H1 2010

Source: Department of Lands and Colliers International Thailand Research

Samui is a newly emerging residential location
in Thailand. The first residential projects in
Samui, especially in the housing or villa market
started in 2004. Before that time development
consisted of only individual villas.
The average number of units per project is less
than 20 and some consist of only 2 – 4 units.
The villa market is still in its infancy and appears
quite volatile to the fluctuations of the market.
Some developers build only one villa at a time
and future building has been put on hold, others
consist of one villa only but the size is usually
so substantial that the developer will give it a
name in order the market the product. In these
cases the data is not included in the report.
Some developers sell off plan and then base
their financing on payments from buyers. Some
have little experience in real estate and there
have been examples of projects being suspended
due to poor project financing and planning. This
has plagued the residential market in the past
but there are signs of growing maturity.
Additional supply in H1 2010 amounts to nearly
100 units, so the total number of villa units in
Samui is approximately 350 units in the first
half of 2010.

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 SAMUI RESIDENTIAL REPORT | 1H 2010 | CONDOMINIUM & VILLA

Current supply by year, H1 2010

Source: Department of Lands and Colliers International Thailand Research

Bo Phut is the most popular location for the
residential market although more in terms of
condominiums than villas. This is due to
relatively convenient transport and access to a
wide range of restaurants and family
entertainment facilities. Villa development has
taken hold in relatively sparse locations such as
Mae Nam, Cheong Mon and the West Coast
compared to the relatively small condominium
growth. These areas have significant land
available for landed property compared to the
busier Chaweng zone for example.

Future supply

Cumulative future supply scheduled to be completed during the years 2010 – 2012
by location. (As of H1 2010)

Source: Colliers International Thailand Research

More than 440 units are scheduled to be 100 units or approximately 25% of total are
completed in 2012 and 165 units or around scheduled to be completed in 2012.
37% will be completed in 2011.

The developers are interested to develop villa

projects in the Cheong Mon area, more than

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SAMUI RESIDENTIAL REPORT | 1H 2010 | CONDOMINIUM & VILLA
Take up rate
The take up rate of all projects in the market, as of H1 2010
Source: Colliers International Thailand Research
The take up rate in the West Coast area is
around 60% higher than in other locations,
followed by Cheong Mon and Bang Po areas
with approximately 48% and 32% respectively.
Villa projects in the West Coast area shown the
highest rate, but most of the units are located in
Residential demand drivers
Flights
Most people enter Samui from the air. It is
possible to take a ferry but this is time consuming
for all but budget travelers and they are more
likely to use Samui as a springboard for Koh
Phangan. Samui suffers from a limited number
of direct international arrivals and domestic
flights from Bangkok are prohibitively expensive
when compared to those of other resorts.
The upshot is that many international visitors
will have first arrived in Bangkok and then
Internal transport
Great strides have been made in the road
system on Samui over the past few years but
the island still suffers from a lack of adequate
infrastructure especially during the rainy
season when flooding can seriously effect
traffic. Also the island suffers from poor signage
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the north part of West Coast area as these
areas are not far from the airport and close to
various facilities, such as restaurants,
hypermarkets, convenience stores, hospitals
and entertainment venues.
transferred. This makes the island more
susceptible to the political dramas in Bangkok
as evidenced by the airport blockade and April
/May riots in 2010. It also deters travelers from
visiting from Bangkok and using Samui as a
second home due to the high ticket prices. This
means that developments are more focused on
the high end market.
making navigating the roads difficult. The recent
improvements to the road have also had an
adverse effect in that car drivers and motorbike
riders are going much faster and accidents,
often fatal, are commonplace and negatively
affect the image of the island.
 SAMUI RESIDENTIAL REPORT | 1H 2010 | CONDOMINIUM & VILLA
Growth of retail
The emergence of a strong retail sector on the
island has meant that Samui has become a
more attractive residential and holiday
Entertainment
The Samui experience is one of chilling out and
relaxing during the day and enjoying the
restaurants and partying at night. This is
appealing to western travelers but less so to the
Asian market where daytime entertainment
facilities are a more significant attraction in a
holiday. This puts Samui at a disadvantage
compared to Phuket but especially Pattaya, with
destination due to the handiness that
hypermarkets down to the convenience stores
provide.
its growing focus on family style theme parks.
However from a western perspective this is to
its advantage as many are repelled by a more
Disneyland approach and will seek out a laid
back resort area. This means that the Samui’s
growth is taking another direction to the other
resorts.
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SAMUI RESIDENTIAL REPORT | 1H 2010 | CONDOMINIUM & VILLA
Tourism
The take up rate of all projects in the market, as of H1 2010
Colliers International Thailand Research Source: Office of Tourism Development
In Samui, tourism is the key driver of residential
real estate in terms of buyers often being
returning tourists wishing to invest in property
and the end users of these products utilizing the
hotel function.
Condominium and villa usage is different from
that of Bangkok in that the majority of units
function as hotels or even serviced apartments
and as such developers have sometimes altered
the design to reflect this with facilities expected
in a hotel or serviced residence. Owners often
can offer their units into a pooling system with
apportioning of revenue based on unit size. As
many owners use their units infrequently this
system offers flexibility and a good potential
rate of return. However the residential market is
therefore dependent on the vagaries of the
tourism market and the recent protests and
rioting in Bangkok have affected the market.
The airport blockade brought tourism to an
almost standstill at the end of 2008 as most
visitors use a plane to come to the island and so
this event dramatically affected arrival numbers.
Recovery was strong after the blockade but fell
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again at the end of 2009. Although the last are prohibitively expensive compared with
quarter was relatively tranquil for Thailand as a flights to Phuket and deters less well heeled
whole, Samui was affected as many travelers visitors. This means more development in the
book their holidays months in advance and so luxury end of the market and the lack of mass
the effects of traumatic events are felt a long tourism bestows Samui with a more exclusive
time after. This can be seen by the sharp appeal, reinforced by the limit on high rise
reduction of tourists from mainstay markets in construction. It is partly for these reasons that
Europe during this time. the island hosts a number of specialized
wellness resorts such as Kamalaya Koh Samui
There are few countries that dominate the while other resorts offer a strong wellness
market as visitors come from a wide range of component. This is a growing and lucrative
countries and the Thai market is relatively small niche which could also be developed to take into
compared to other resorts, although this group account the burgeoning number of retirees from
has bucked the trend in Q2 2010 by actually Europe, Japan and the USA.
increasing from the previous quarter. This was
due to Bangkokians escaping the disturbing
events in their city and time will tell if this growth
can be sustained.
Samui is also limited by the number of flights
allowed in at the airport and its reliance on
domestic flights. The short runway means that
large wide body jets cannot be accommodated
thus restricting direct flights from Europe which
use such longer range aircraft. Domestic flights
 SAMUI RESIDENTIAL REPORT | 1H 2010 | CONDOMINIUM & VILLA

Outlook
Due to it being an island and an expensive one to reach, the opportunities for the development of Samui are limited compared to other resorts in
Thailand. This may be no bad thing as many living in Samui are there for that very reason and do not wish the island to be awash with new projects.
There are also concerns about the water supply being adequate for future supply. These limitations mean that Samui can grow not necessarily in
terms of quantity but rather quality with the emergence of higher end projects with eclectic designs that fit into the natural structure of the island
rather than deflect from it.

The residential market in Samui is greatly dependent on the tourism market as most projects have a hotel/serviced apartment component. Potential
buyers will be keenly aware of the ups and downs in the Samui tourism market as visitors provide the mainstay of income on most properties.
Therefore the market is likely to remain volatile while Thailand is mired in political uncertainty and the global economy teeters towards another
recession.

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