Importance of Convenient Location in Property Investment

Regardless of whether investors purchase Bangkok condominium as an investment or a second home, location is one of the important factors should be considered before the decision of purchase.  At the same time, there are numerous factors such as property requirement, budget, and convenience that play an important role in determining a location.  A good location will increase the value of the investment by better rental yield return and capital gain. 

Bangkok as a developing city keeps expanding by building new roads and housing estates around the city.  Because developers prefer to develop large chunks of land and there is not any law requirement on the road width, they keep narrow and limited roads.  Bangkok’s road-to-area ratio is only 8% whereas New York has 32% and Tokyo has 23%.   As a result, many roads in Bangkok become traffic bottlenecks.

To avoid traffic congestion, Bangkok’s BTS, MRT, and ARL become the major transportation for all the Thai.  Whether the location of the condominium is close to mass transit will be one of Thai’s concerns when choosing a condo.  Condominiums located in the heart of city and/or near mass transit will be more attractive for tenants and thus better rental returns for investors.  In order to improve the problem of traffic congestion and boost economic development, the Thai government will expand the Bangkok mass transit by 2025.  It contributes to the upward trend of potential capital appreciations for properties in a convenient location.

Properties located in Bangkok’s CBD are the top locations for property investment because these areas full of numerous office buildings, shopping malls, and well connected to public transports.  Tenants can easily access to and from inner-city areas and link midtown areas.  Take one of the popular condo locations Phayathai – Ratchathewi as an example, the proximity of these areas is close to many professional education schools (Triam Udom Suksa), university (Chulalongkorn University) and shopping centers (Siam Square and Siam Paragon).  In 2020, the Ratchathewi station will be an interchange station between the current BTS light green line and orange line.  Because it is convenient and easily accessible by public transit, the average rental rate is estimated to be 4%-6% which bring investors good rental return. 

Many condominiums were launched during the construction of mass transit lines hoping to get the benefit brings by new mass transit lines.  The potential capital appreciation and rental yields of properties easily accessible by Bangkok mass transit are attractive for investors.  However, developers will also increase the price of properties which close to mass transit.  Investors are advised to balance the budget of investment and the convenience of the condo location to get the largest investment return.