PATTAYA, Thailand – Thailand’s housing market continues to grapple with weakening purchasing power, limited access to home ownership for local buyers, and softening foreign demand, raising questions over whether 2026 will bring a genuine recovery or merely a sense of cautious optimism.
According to the latest survey by Sopon Pornchokchai, President of the Thai Real Estate Research and Valuation Information Center at Agency for Real Estate Affairs (AREA), February 2, the property sector saw a broad slowdown in 2025, with fewer new projects launched and lower overall investment value.
Nationwide, developers launched 265 new projects during the year, including 259 residential developments and six non-residential projects. These added 41,556 housing units to the market, with a combined development value of 291.27 billion baht, reflecting a clear pullback compared with the previous year.
In Bangkok and the metropolitan area, the contraction was particularly pronounced. A total of 41,490 units were launched in 2025, down 32.5 percent from 61,453 units in 2024. Project value also fell sharply, declining nearly 30 percent year-on-year to 290.62 billion baht. Despite this slowdown, the average price of newly launched homes rose to 7.004 million baht per unit, compared with 6.733 million baht a year earlier, indicating that developers continued to focus on higher-priced products while affordability for lower-income buyers weakened further.
Dr. Sopon noted that overall market prices have started to adjust downward. The current average asking price stands at 4.477 million baht, a decline of 2.9 percent from six months earlier. Price reductions were seen across all housing types, including land subdivisions, shophouses, condominiums, and townhouses, reflecting intensified competition and a sluggish economic backdrop.
Lower-priced homes have experienced the sharpest declines, as oversupply in certain segments has forced developers to compete more aggressively. These adjustments have been driven in part by sales promotions toward the end of 2025, as well as easing costs related to interest rates and construction materials.
AREA’s survey also found that developers are currently holding 221,805 unsold residential units nationwide. At the present rate of absorption, it would take nearly 50 months, or just over four years, to clear existing inventory. While this figure remains high, it marks an improvement from almost 240,000 unsold units recorded two years earlier, suggesting that reduced new launches have helped the market gradually absorb excess supply.
Looking ahead, Dr. Sopon warned that major challenges remain, particularly high household debt, which continues to limit home-buying capacity. He said the government should maintain loan-to-value measures, consider additional stimulus for the property sector, and facilitate easier access to housing credit in order to support demand.
AREA projects that the residential property market could see a modest recovery of around five percent in 2026. However, in the medium term between 2027 and 2029, the market is expected to remain largely flat, as Thailand’s economic growth is likely to continue at a subdued pace.
