Phuket Property Market During Covid-19

Just like the rest of the world, Covid-19 has had an effect on the property market in Thailand and in Phuket. In 2020, the virus did not spread quickly in Thailand and there was a low number of hospitalizations and a low death rate. Indeed, it felt like the virus itself was a problem in other parts of the world and Thailand with it’s hot climate remained largely immune.

It was however, the economic impact of the virus that was the most devastating with the country’s famed tourism industry taking a massive hit with 1.5m jobs lost in the tourism sector overall. Phuket being an island that relies on overseas visitors was particularly damaged economically.

By mid-2020, Thailand was closed to outside visitors and we started to see an increasing number of property owners dropping the price of their homes in order to achieve a quick sale.

These sellers were motivated due to an urgent need for cash as a result of their domestic situation back in their own country. It should be noted that we did not see in this period a general downturn of the whole property market on the island as sellers who were not desperate for quick cask opted to keep prices the same or chose to remove their property from an increasingly discounted market.

By the time we hit quarter 4 in 2020, there was an uptick in market activity in comparison to quarter 3 as motivated sellers began to be matched up with buyers looking to snap up properties below the market value. Due to the travel restrictions, many properties were purchased remotely. This trend continued to the end of the year and into 2021.

The good news is that going in 2021, there has been an increasing number of discounted properties coming onto the market so if you are thinking of investing and unable to travel just yet, it is not too late. There are still some great deals out there and new ones emerging.

To help you easily locate the property bargains, we have profiled the most heavily discounted properties in Phuket and have ranked them based upon percentage discount offered. Also, useful to know, on our website you will see properties reduced in price ranked higher up in the property search results by default.

This has been the first part of our Covid update for the property market in Phuket; in the next article, we will take a look at the emerging trends and the key things investors should focus on as Thailand re-opens.