Investment in Koh Samui
In addition to being a playground for international travelers, Koh Samui is fast becoming a popular site for luxury development. Many of the world’s leading hotel chains have recently set up business on the island, and the government has reported a dramatic increase in luxury home building in the last three years—particularly in the south of the island, which has experienced the largest boom in home construction for wealthy, high-profile buyers.
“The high-end property market of Koh Samui is currently very buoyant,” Victor Careford of Samui Diamond Properties recently told the highly respected Property Report Thailand. “Many investors see strong potential in the island’s growing villa rental sector, and the biggest demand now is for three- to five-bedroom luxury holiday villas.” (Property Report Thailand, April 2007)
Consequently, returns on property investment have been very high on Koh Samui, with the average rate of return on home purchases more than doubling over the past three years. This is over two times above the Thai national average on capital growth for real estate, which—at 10-15% per annum—is already very impressive. Samui also offers one of the highest average rental yields in the world, surpassing such renowned sites as London, Paris, Monaco, Tuscany, Madrid, Barbados and Sydney for annual rental income.
One of the main reasons behind Koh Samui’s real estate boom is that more and more people, particularly frequent visitors who once stayed in hotels and rental housing, now see the value of purchasing their own villas and condominiums on this beautiful island. At prices that are surprisingly inexpensive compared to the West, homes on Samui are being bought up by scores of eager new residents, who are discovering a much higher standard of living for their money than they are used to in their home countries.
So, in addition to its consistently warm and mild climate, its excellent standards of living, its dependable IT and transport infrastructure and its reputation as a safe place to live, Koh Samui now has the added benefit of offering people affordable, high-quality homes with proven, solid rates of return. And with prices that are still roughly half of those in Phuket and Pattaya (Thailand’s other popular seaside destinations), Samui has a potential for return on investment and quality of living that can be matched by few tropical destinations anywhere.
For more information on Koh Samui, click here. |
