Developers expect govt stimulus for property market by mid-April
Leading property developers say they are confident the government will announce stimulus measures to boost housing sales before the Songkran holiday, or April 13.
Watanapol Pholchiwin, president of the Chon Buri Property Developer Association, said he expected PM Srettha Thavisin to announce new stimulus soon.
He said Srettha, formerly CEO of property giant Sansiri Plc, had more property expertise than any of his predecessors so would know how to boost house and condo sales to stimulate the economy.
Thayat Kanchanachinda, president of the Rayong Property Developer Association, echoed industry expectations of impending measures.
He said he expected the government to introduce stimulus as proposed by the property developer associations.
The associations have urged the government to expand the ownership transfer fee criteria and extend the cap on mortgage registration fees from 3 million baht to 5 million baht.
Currently, ownership transfer fees for homes priced lower than 3 million baht are reduced from 2% to 1% of the property’s value while mortgage registration fees are cut from 1% to 0.01% on loans of 3 million baht or less.
The two association chiefs explained they were confident new stimulus measures were pending because Srettha had earlier said property was a potential engine of economic growth.
Srettha said the property sector could be the fifth growth engine after investment, consumption, tourism and exports. He spoke after the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council lowered its GDP forecast for 2024 from 2.7-3.7% to 2.2-3.2%.
In addition, Thayat and Watanapol said they were hoping the government would accept the property industry’s proposal to develop projects on smaller plots.
Watanapol added that the property developer associations have also called for a cut in the loan-to-value ratio used by commercial banks to grant mortgages.
However, the developers realized that such a cut could not be made by Srettha despite his double role as PM and finance minister.
“The power to grant this proposal lies not with the prime minister but the central bank,” Watanapol said.
Likewise, the PM was also powerless over calls for the central bank to lower its policy interest rate so commercial banks could lower their loan rates, he added.
The government was mulling other proposals on property, and developers expected to see new stimulus measures announced within the second quarter, Watanapol said.
