In a year that has been undeniably harsh on the property industry across the state and the nation, a few developments on the island have managed to accumulate substantial success. In the light of the prevalent state of the industry, the sales figures for these have been more than heartening.

We took a look at three of these developments, each representing a different product and niche market. The Chava at Surin, The Laguna Phuket Property and Karon Hill have all made commendable sales in a year that has left the majority of developments sitting pretty.

We asked the managers of each property what they thought had made all the difference. To begin with, how much of their property has been sold and how much of these sales took place in 2007?

The records indicate an interesting pattern. The Chava has sold close to 70% of the apartments, roughly 40% of which were sold in 2007.

“We only started construction and our sales campaign in November 2006, so we feel we have done very well,” says Paul Martin, Phuket One Real Estate of the Chava. “A lot of the 2007 sales came in the early part of the year and most of the year saw steady interest and conversion. The only exception was October/November when there was a marked decrease in market activity.”

Laguna Phuket Property sold over 95% of the Dusit Laguna Villas, 50% of Laguna Village, and 50% of Banyan Tree Residences during 2007.

“While the combined year was very successful, the second and third quarter were quieter than normal in terms of sales, with good activity in January and excellent movement in the entire last quarter.” reports Dan Simmons, Laguna Phuket.

As for Karon Hill, Wes Baxter told the Phuket Post: “2007 was the very, very early days for Karon Hill. In fact, sales started only about mid November when sales office opened.”

The property sold 40% of the Phase 1 in just 5 weeks. “None of us here at Karon Hill expected to sell as well as it has done in the past month, since our sales office doors opened,” declared Wes. “It was largely thanks to Tropical Homes Etstate agents, who have been fantastic in finding buyers for us.”

Dan Simmons is also pleased with the Laguna Phuket's performance. “Our 2007 targets were set prior to the political instability that Thailand faced, yet at the end of 2007, Laguna Property came close to meeting our targets. This obviously exceeded our expectations in that we were able to meet a budget and sell so many properties amidst a period when sales in general slowed throughout all of Thailand.

“Laguna Phuket, in October, November and December, has had a surge in sales with many customers that our sales team has been in contact with for months, finally taking the step and committing to purchase. The surge in sales was due in part to the election and also to the fact that many customers were interested in investing funds before the end of the year due to tax benefits.”

“Overall we are very pleased with the progress we have made.” Paul Martin says. “If we are honest 2007 wasn’t quite as good as we had anticipated but this has been the same for most other developments too. There are other similar sized developments in Phuket that have been actively marketed for 2 years or more and at best they have achieved the same level of sales as The Chava.”

The representatives of all three properties picked the 'location' of their development as a major factor in their success.

Says Paul Martin: “The number one factor is location – we are the only condominium project on Surin Beach. Either side of The Chava you will find Amanpuri, The Chedi and Twin Palms, which rank amongst Phuket’s finest and most successful resorts. Most of our buyers are frequent visitors to these resorts and would not buy anywhere else. Surin Beach is also one of the best beaches in Thailand.

“You can’t just rely on location though,” he clarifies, “and other reasons we have been so successful are: the team behind The Chava and the high quality of construction. The Chava is designed and project managed by Paradise Designs - responsible for Surin Plaza and Andara and we have World Construction on the building side. Combine this with using some of the best construction materials, finishes and fittings in Phuket and you have some idea why we have been so successful.”

“The location, architectural design, quality, rental plan, and pricing are the categories chosen the most by customers on our ownership surveys when asked why they purchased in Laguna.” Dan Simmons informed the Post. “In addition, our resort integrated properties are in strong demand with investors due to the name recognition of the hotel property, the guaranteed returns, successful rental abilities, and finance options that are available to foreigners.”

“I think Karon Hill wouldn't have been so successful if it wasn't for its location (of course) which I would say is its main asset,” reveals Wes Baxter. “Also, the design of the buildings is very easy on the eye, modern and contemporary, with a large spacious estate and communal facilities. A lot of projects in the surrounding area are squeezed into small plots of land and located on a small already over developed Soi. The beauty of Karon Hill is that of the 17 Rai owned by the developer the Condominiums only take up 7 Rai which gives the estate a nice open feeling.”

Investment has come from all corners of the world.

“We have a very varied client base at The Chava.” says Paul Martin. “Obviously there are a lot of European ex-pats living in Singapore, Hong Kong etc. We also have Chinese, Korean, German, Austrian and Swedish buyers along with a number of prominent Australian businessmen. Oh...and the architect was so proud of The Chava, he bought a unit too!

“Most of the buyers will use their apartment periodically throughout the year and will expect some form of rental management during the time they are not in Phuket,” continues Paul. “Some are outright investors and will probably only rarely come to Phuket. A couple have been purchased for long term occupation or as a second home.

“One thing they all have in common is, they love Surin Beach.”

Laguna Phuket Properties also have a multinational client base with the largest from UK, Hong Kong, Russia, Singapore, and Thailand.

For Karon Hill though, most of the buyers have come from Europe. As Wes informs us: “Apart from 1 Thai, 1 American and a South African all are European. All of our customers seem to be looking for something different, some a part time residence, some full time residences and others purely investment.

“Most have expressed a wish to rent out their apartment for at least a few months of the year.”

The three developments are uniformly confident about the coming year, “The market will certainly be more buoyant. There will be more buyers around and we expect to sell our remaining apartments in the first half of 2008.” Paul Martin says. “It appears there are a lot of new projects coming to the market which means the buyers will have more choice. Developers will have to make sure they are marketing their projects correctly in order to meet sales targets.”

“There has been a pent up demand from investors holding off on purchasing property in Thailand, for the most part due to the political situation and the proposed Foreign Business Act changes,” declares Dan Simmons. “With the election now over, we believe that there will be positive political changes soon that will strengthen the property market for 2008. This coming year should yield much greater results than 2007 in property sales, especially in resort areas such as Phuket that have a strong infrastructure where prime real estate is in high demand.”

Paul Martin echoes these sentiments when he says: “The recent election and return to democracy will help to increase buyer confidence. There are many potential buyers and investors that have been waiting for this to happen and who will now purchase a property.

“This is just the first step, however.” he notes. “Next, we need parliament to make some positive economic policy decisions, especially those to do with foreign investment in Thailand. Only then will we see the Phuket property market reach its full potential.”

“If we continue to do business as we have done since our sales office opened then we are in for a very good 2008,” Wes Baxter says, adding: “It is very important for Thailand that they keep encouraging foreign investors, so I hope this encouragement will manifest itself in some part in the property industry.”

With exceptional sales during a tough time, all three developers have every intention of continuing with investing on Phuket. And not surprisingly, they admit they plan to stick with the type of development they have already had success with.

Wes Baxter believes that condominiums, “are the way forward, and will be for the near future.”
He points out that as condominiums can be owned freehold, they come without a number of headaches that can accompany other types of units. “So our only consideration for this moment in time would be condominiums. The developer of Karon Hill is in the process of viewing prospective land plots for possible future condominium developments...but that is all I can say for now.”

“Given the success of the Chava, we will certainly be considering our options with respect to further developments. A number of our buyers are so pleased with The Chava that they have already committed to investing with us in the future. The demand for premium quality properties in prime locations will continue to grow and that will be the market we will pursue,” says Paul Martin.

Dan Simmons elaborates on plans for Laguna Phuket: “In addition to the new Angsana, Dusit and Banyan Tree properties and the recently released Laguna Village Deluxe project, Laguna Phuket will launch a luxury 7-storey condominium project with some ocean, lagoon, mountain and golf course views, and another Laguna Village project named The Lofts. A new clubhouse will be located in front of The Lofts at Laguna Village including a fitness center, tennis courts, free form swimming pool with slide, business center, barbeque area, children’s play area with jungle gym, and a caf้ for the guests’ refreshments. We also have plans to develop 400 rai of prime land adjacent to Laguna Phuket for residential, commercial, retail and entertainment purposes.”

So with the end of a particularly difficult year, and very soon...the military regime, confidence is growing and hopes are buoyant.

Investors are eager to shake off the ill-tidings of the last year and move on with renewed vigour, depending of course, upon what the new government will bring to the industry. To put it in Dan's words: “The country and political experts are optimistic that the new government will be positive and foreign investment friendly, delivering the political stability necessary to regain investor confidence. With the pent up demand and confidence increasing, I believe the market is going to quickly benefit from the election with long-term results to follow. The FBA will play a large roll as well in the long-term, and we hope that the new government will see fit to encourage international trade and investment by carefully planning any future changes to the Act.”