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The Thai Real Estate Market in 2025: Lessons, Challenges, and New Opportunities in an Era of Adaptation
As a veteran of the Thai real estate industry for over a decade, I’ve witnessed numerous market cycles, and often find that “expectations” don’t always match “reality.” 2023 is yet another clear testament to the uncertainty of the Thai real estate market. While there were expectations that a slight recovery momentum in 2022 would boost business, the situation has reversed. The market slowdown leading to the general election has dragged on into 2024, and the market continues to face challenges from all sides, not as bright as many had hoped.
As we enter 2025 with a deep understanding of the changing landscape, analyzing the historical performance of leading real estate developers listed on the stock exchange goes beyond numbers to decode the strategies, resilience, and visions of industry leaders. This article explores the overall picture, past events, lessons learned, and, most importantly, the direction and strategies for the Thai real estate market in 2025, which will be filled with both challenges and exciting opportunities.
Decoding the Year of Volatility: 2023-2024 with Unrelenting Pressure
Looking back to 2023, consumer confidence and real estate investment were dragged down by several factors: high interest rates, soaring household debt pressuring purchasing power, tighter loan denials from financial institutions, and continued rising construction costs due to material and labor costs. Overall, the 41 real estate companies we closely monitor reported total revenue of over 371.56 billion baht in 2023, a slight decrease of -1.2% from 2022. However, this figure hides the fact that over 25 companies, or more than half, experienced a significant decrease in total revenue.
Companies experiencing a decline of more than 20% in total revenue include LPN Development, Eastern Star Real Estate, and Country Group Development, which saw a 28% decrease. Raimon Land also saw a 26% decrease, Lalin Property 23%, Major Development 22%, and Siamese Asset 21%. Even giants like Land and Houses were not immune to the slowdown, with total revenue falling 18%. Interestingly, among the top 10 companies with the highest total revenue in 2023, five companies experienced a decrease in revenue, including AP (Thailand) with a decrease of less than 1%, Supalai with a 10% decrease, Pruksa Holding with a 9% decrease, and Origin Property with a 4% decrease.
This overall picture clearly indicates that despite the overall market stability, the inequality among real estate developers is very high. Companies that focus on selling the same products Those with inflexible financial structures are inevitably impacted. This sluggish market environment continued into 2024, which was still plagued by political uncertainty, unclear economic stimulus policies, and a slower-than-expected recovery in purchasing power.
Leading Players: A Turnaround in the Real Estate Game
A closer look at each dimension reveals a more complex and interesting picture of who truly adapted and stood up to these challenges.
Total Revenue: Creating Growth in Difficult Times
In 2023, Sansiri emerged as the number one company with total revenue of 39.082 billion baht, a remarkable 12% increase. This demonstrates a strong marketing strategy, targeted project launches, and excellent sales closing capabilities, narrowly beating out rival AP (Thailand) with total revenue of 38.399 billion baht. Supalai came in third with 31.818 billion baht, followed by Land and Houses with 30.170 billion baht, and Pruksa Holding with 26.132 billion baht.
Companies demonstrating growth potential in difficult market conditions did more than simply launch a large number of new projects. But it also includes the ability to adapt the portfolio to market needs, manage costs, and create added value for projects. Sansiri’s growth is a clear example of the integration of these strategies.
Sales Revenue: The Heart of Real Estate Development
A closer look at “Sales Revenue,” a key indicator of a real estate developer’s ability to convert projects into sales, reveals a combined 41 companies generating 268.46 billion baht in sales revenue, an 11% decrease from 2022. Thirty companies saw a significant decline in sales revenue: Raimon Land saw a 78% decrease, LPN Development saw a nearly 40% decrease, and even Land and Houses saw a 38% decrease in sales revenue.
However, in this challenging environment, AP (Thailand) proved its sales leadership, rising to number one with total sales revenue of 36.927 billion baht. Although this decrease was only a slight 2%, it still reflected the strength of its inventory management and smart sales strategy. Sansiri followed, with 32.829 billion baht. It’s impressive that it was one of only two companies in the top 10 to see a 7% increase in sales revenue. Supalai ranked third at 30.836 billion baht. SC Asset Corporation, in fourth place, made a remarkable comeback, rising to the top 5 with 23.370 billion baht in sales revenue, a 13% increase. Pruksa Holding ranked fifth at 22.357 billion baht.
The fact that some companies were able to increase sales revenue against the trend demonstrates their understanding of their target audience, their differentiated product offerings, their effective use of digital marketing channels, and their flexibility in adapting campaigns to market conditions, particularly among buyers with real purchasing power seeking value, or high-end customers impacted by the economic downturn.
