Uoolu sees rising influx of Chinese buyers

Website cites prices for surging interest

Uoolu, a global real estate investment platform in China, expects the number of Chinese buyers of Thai properties to continue rising this year notably because of their relatively cheaper prices.

Uoolu’s founder and chief executive Huang Xiaodan said Chinese interest in Thai properties has surged since late last year, with around 5,000 users visiting its website and using its application a month since March this year.

“Thai property prices remain cheap for Chinese buyers and worth the investment,” he said yesterday during a visit to Bangkok to launch the company’s new product Uoolu+ for Thai developers to introduce their projects to potential Chinese buyers.

During the first half this year, sales of Thai properties bought by Chinese via Uoolu totalled around 300 million yuan (1.5 billion baht), compared with 50 million yuan in the whole year of 2016.

Mr Huang expects Thailand this year to rank the fourth largest overseas market for Chinese property investors, up from the seventh last year. The top three countries are the US, Britain and Australia.

Last year, the US was the No.1 choice for Chinese property buyers, followed by Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.

In Thailand, Bangkok was the most attractive destination among Chinese buyers, followed by Phuket and Chiang Mai. The top five locations were Asoke, Thong Lor, Huai Khwang, Rama IX and Phrom Phong. The biggest market among Chinese buyers was unit priced between 1-2 million yuan.

According to Uoolu, the highest unit price bought by the Chinese was 10 million yuan while the fastest time they spent exploring Thai properties via its website or mobile app and making a decision was only two hours.

Uoolu has 30 property projects with around 6,000 units in Thailand on its website and app and expects the number to rise to at least 50 projects by the end of the year. It also aims to close sales of around 2,000 units in Thailand in 2017.

Yesterday, Uoolu signed an agreement with Thai developers to introduce their projects to its platform. They include Ocean Beach Group, Sena Development Plc, Raimon Land Plc, Areeya Property Plc and Singaporean-owned Pacific Star Development Ltd.

Mr Huang said developers or sellers should also provide sufficient information to draw more interest from China. Chinese buyers are also concerned about the parties that would take care of their assets while they are not in Thailand, and after-sales service.

The Chinese buy property in Thailand primarily for investment and are most attracted by discounts, he added.