Govt plans incentives to boost sales of property priced at over THB3 million

One of the measures was to expand the criteria of the government’s incentive to reduce the property transfer fee from 2% to 1% and mortgage fee from 1% to 0.01%, to cover property priced up to 7 million baht, the source said.

Currently the measure is only applicable to property priced at not over 3 million baht.

The adjustment would help boost sales in the property sector and help developers unload properties priced in the range of over 3 million to 7 million baht in their stock, which accounts for about 86% of unsold properties in the market, said the source.

Only Thai nationals will be eligible to avail of the incentive, which is expected to be effective until the end of this year.

The source added that the Finance Ministry had also coordinated with the Interior Ministry to propose amendments to four regulations related to property purchase by individuals in vulnerable groups under state benefit schemes, allowing them to be eligible for reduced transfer and mortgage fees as well.

The ministry reportedly estimates that the measures would generate additional sales worth around 799.37 billion baht for the property sector, stimulate domestic consumption by around 118.41 billion baht, and attract investments of 464.97 billion baht. In total, these increased economic factors would help boost Thailand’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 1.58%.

The measures, however, would result in the local administration losing revenue from transfer and mortgage fees totalling around 23.82 billion baht.

The source added that the ministry was drafting a measure to offer income tax deductions to individuals who build a new house, at 10,000 baht per house valued at 1 million baht, with total exemption capped at 100,000 baht. Pre-registration for the campaign has been opened on the Revenue Department’s website and has attracted around 5,000 registrants.