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Pattaya popular with Russian buyers
Thailand Property Report
July 2008
In 2007, 889,656 Russians visited Pattaya, up 84 per
cent from the previous year, making them the leading
market for the resort after Thais, 1.51 million of whom
checked into Pattaya hotels last year.
Although Russians have been visiting Pattaya for more than
a decade, only in the past two years have they started to
buy up Pattaya properties. And the trend is catching on.
"I think this year, Russians will account for 40 per cent
of property sales in Pattaya," predicted Uriy Segal, the
Russian president of Russian House, a newly set-up Pattaya
property agency.
Last year, Russian buyers accounted for 22 per cent, or
7.7 million dollars of condominium sales made by Raimon
Land, the developer of Northshore Pattaya and Northpoint,
which sell for more than 4,000 dollars per square metre.
That price might be high by Thai standards, but it´s cheap
by Moscow´s.
"Nowadays, if you buy a condominium in Moscow, just the
parking place costs 150,000 euros," said Segal, who added
that Moscow condominium prices have peaked this year at
close to 20,000 dollars per square metre.
"Russian people now have money, and they are looking for
property investments in China, Thailand, Cambodia and
Vietnam because in Russia property is too expensive," he
said.
For Russian buyers, Pattaya still looks like a bargain in
many respects.
"It´s a nice holiday destination," said Linda Ord, general
manager of the Pattaya office of the CB Richard Ellis
real-estate company. "There´s shopping, great weather.
There are plenty of places to eat, including a dozen
Russian restaurants, and of course, it´s cheap."
Pattaya bay and its beach, once upon a time the site of a
peaceful fishing village, was first discovered by American
soldiers based in Thailand during the Vietnam War and then
rediscovered by European tourists in the late 1970s and
1980s and rediscovered once again by South Korean, Chinese
and Russian tourists in the late 1990s and 2000s.
Before Russians rushed into Pattaya´s property picture,
the main buyers at the resort were British, Germans and
Scandinavians, many of them looking for a second home
abroad or a retirement spot.
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