The Koh Chang Property Market

  Jan 8, 2013       No Comments   

Times are changing fast in the youthful Koh Chang Property Market. Koh Chang has only recently developed as a tourist destination and so has only experienced large scale growth in hotels and tourist visits over the past ten years or so. Whilst there has been an explosion in the number of hotel beds and related tourist businesses the potential for residential property construction, with a few notable exceptions, has remained untapped. If you consider the histories of development of Thai resorts like Koh Samui, Phuket and Hua Hin that have been growing for ten or twenty years longer than Koh Chang then the next wave of development is set to see huge demand for housing and condominium development.
There are certain factors unique to Koh Chang that have major effects on how the property market will develop.
The first is the fact that Koh Chang lies within a Thai Marine National Park. Around 70-80% of the land area of the island falls within national park control and, since it is under government ownership, it cannot  (at least in principle) be developed.
Also, the Thai Navy own large tracts of land on the island. Add to this the fact that a lot of the remaining land is of tenuous land title (see our section on Thai land types) and the area of land on Koh Chang that is available for development becomes still more limited. The effect of this is that property prices can seem quite high, obviously as a factor of high demand coupled with limited supply. In the longer term of course this limitation on available land means that an investment in a well-built house or condo on a development with secure land title offers fantastic potential for growth in market value.
There have so far only been a few organised housing and condo developments on Koh Chang and many people have resorted to buying land and arranging construction themselves – no mean feat. But new projects keep coming online and since we represent all of the island’s main commercial developments then you are welcome to call into our office or call us on 081-919-8219 to find out what we currently have available, or take a look at the property section of our website www.koh-chang-guide.com where there are many pages of land, property and businesses for sale..

Koh Mak and Koh Kood
The nearby islands of Koh Mak and Koh Kood are also developing as alternative considerations for property and housing investment. The islands are smaller, Koh Mak very much so, but since they lie outside the national park far more of the land can be developed. Koh Mak so far has just a few residential developments and Koh Kood has none so any dream home projects currently have to be built from the ground up. The islands are both remoter and less developed than Koh Chang. Whether this is a good thing or not is a matter of opinion. They are certainly pretty and peaceful but this can come to feel remote and isolated in the low season. It might be a good idea to pay a visit at this time of year to get a feel for things before you buy.