The question of how Pattaya’s property market will respond after global vaccination against Covid-19 depends on many factors. Common sense indicates that most international borders will open again once most people from Thailand and its visiting countries are fully vaccinated against the disease. Everyone is hopeful that the opening up of Phuket this month as the pilot for the Thai Government’s scheme to admit vaccinated visitors will prove successful.
The “Sandbox” scheme required at least 70% of the provincial population to be vaccinated to build herd immunity. This test model, in Phuket, is hoped to immediately help the local economy, especially in the tourist sector, and if it proves to be a success will then be rolled out to other areas of Thailand.
Of course, the pandemic has had a significant impact on the market in Thailand. Still, other events around the world have also had a considerable effect on the future of the property business in Pattaya. The situation in China, for example, is changing rapidly, and what happens there will have a significant impact on how Pattaya city recovers.
This property with a lot of character on Phoenix Golf Course will surely sell quickly.
New incentives from the Thai government to bring investors back to Thailand will also be a factor. In addition, the Thai Baht, after spending many years as the region’s strongest currency, is at last showing signs of weakening against the major international currencies, and value for money is always a crucial factor when people make decisions about investing and purchasing.
As can be seen, by the number of new developments still going up in Pattaya, developers are showing a massive amount of faith in the city’s future. Although it might be challenging to reconcile the current empty stock with the new projects underway, developers need cash flow. Therefore if the new, more profitable developments require to finance with the sell-off of older properties, that will happen. The good news for prospective purchasers is that many developers can offer old stock at bargain prices. There are sure to be many buyers with an eye for a bargain interested in snapping up these properties at “Covid prices”. Some are already moving in this direction, and an increase in low price cash buyer deals is the first sign that the market is recovering. Long-term rentals will also be affected by anybody wanting to live, work, or spend most of their year in Pattaya looking around for rental bargains before tourists return.
It is easy to forget just how popular Pattaya was just a couple of years ago as a holiday destination before the onset of the pandemic. In 2019 nineteen million people came to visit, a staggering figure. All that pent-up demand will not simply go away. Pattaya is a trendy place to go to and always has been.
This beautiful and robust three-bedroom pool villa is ideally located in Jomtien, just 800 meters from the beach.
Hundreds of millions of people worldwide were locked down, frustrated, denied holidays, and are itching to travel again. Pattaya will claim its fair share of those. Town Hall is already going ahead with improvements to the city’s infrastructure and transport links to prepare it as a destination to rival others worldwide.
Although some may miss the original charms of Pattaya, a sleepy fishing village that became popular with American soldiers during the Vietnam war, to the sprawling city it has become. Most understand that change has to be accepted to be a long-term player in the market. Therefore, it must appeal to a much broader spectrum, including national and international visitors.
The other thing to remember is that Pattaya city has a history of recovery and reinvention. It has had significant ups and downs in the past and always, remarkably, pulled itself back. For example, Pattaya bounced back after the city’s overnight cessation of a once crucial Russian market investment. So although the current circumstances might be like no other before, in a way, they may have come at the right time for the city. Pattaya needs to move forward rather than rely on its past jaded image and re-invent itself as an essential destination for the 21st century.
Pattaya will not just be left to look out for itself and to handle its reinvention. The government and companies investing billions of Baht in the EEC will help with all the necessary improvements. They could not possibly have Pattaya at the end of the line for all the planned new transport infrastructure without the city being somewhere that people want to visit. So the post-pandemic prognosis for Pattaya appears very good.
