Russians actively purchased apartments and villas on the island of Phuket in 2024

Russians bought a quarter of all apartments and half of the villas on the Thai island of Phuket — such statistics are published by Colliers International in the company's report for 2024. Russians took second place in purchasing power, second only to the Chinese — their share was 60%. Third place went to citizens of France, who took 10% of the market. At the same time, the popularity of long-term rentals and housing prices increased. What attracts compatriots to real estate in Thailand and how much do apartments cost there, continues the owner of the real estate agency "Phuket Invest Realty": — I think that the interest of Russian citizens in real estate in Thailand is connected with their love for a warm, peaceful and welcoming country. And, of course, with the search for various investment opportunities, because indeed over the past year the growth in real estate prices amounted to from 50% to about 150% for some properties. Plus today, for a number of properties, we are faced with a situation where even if you want to pay a high price, it is not a fact that you will buy the desired property because the demand has really increased many times over. This is also due to the further weakening of the ruble in Russia, because people do not want to lose money, people want to have savings in a stable currency plus receive passive income, which is provided by correctly selected real estate properties. Buying real estate here is easy, that is, there are no legal obstacles to this, there are no difficulties with transferring funds to this country. Plus, as I have already said, good investment potential. — How much does real estate cost? — Translated into dollars, liquid real estate in Phuket, for example, a small studio or a one-bedroom apartment of 30-40 square meters, has an average price of 100 thousand, 130 thousand, 150 thousand US dollars, which is comparable to buying a small one-room apartment in the same Moscow. Accordingly, for residents of Moscow, Central Russia or the Far East, this is an acceptable price, it is comparable to real estate prices in these cities of Russia. — Are apartments more popular than villas, or equally, or vice versa? — Certainly. If you single out from the total number of buyers, probably 70% or up to 80% of buyers buy apartments, this is due to both the cost of the property and the convenient installments offered by the developer. Villas require more maintenance. And, of course, this is a high entry price, an entrance ticket to this market. That is, for example, a liquid offer starts at 600-700 thousand dollars, and not every buyer can afford this. For comparison, as I have already said, the cost of an apartment is from 100 thousand dollars. Now some developers are trying to issue even more affordable products for 70-80 thousand dollars and with an installment plan for a couple of years, while this complex is being built. According to Thai laws, in each condominium 51% of apartments must belong to residents of the country, and the free share of individual houses for foreigners is almost already occupied in Phuket. Despite the difficulties with settling and rising prices, demand for housing will continue to grow in the next couple of years, experts believe. Those who had never considered this area for investment before are actively joining the market, and against this background, new players are emerging among developers.