Much property focus over the past few years has been on the once-dubbed ‘Beverly Hills of Pattaya’ – Pratumnak. While the area offers some fantastic projects, both new and old, developers seems to be spreading their wings and finally exploring the southern-end of Jomtien Beach.
I always found it quite strange that, although Jomtien has been a busy town for as long as I can remember, there was a real shortage of condo buildings once you rounded the corner from Thappraya onto Jomtien Beach Road. The main focus has always seemed to be from Thepprasit to the police box, which now encompasses an incredible array of tall white monoliths. But once you rounded that corner, after Jomtien Plaza, the only high-rise condos between here and Soi Chaiyapruek (over three kilometres down the road) were Thepthip (which is quite old) on Jomtien Soi 7, and the complex of Jomtien Beach Condo’s 5 buildings near Soi 9, also almost twenty years old. View Talay 8 has now bridged the gap a bit and there is also a new project slated for development next to Panchalae Condo. But the real happenings seem to be even further south, well past Soi Chaiyapruek.
Reflections Condo is a superb development just past Soi 19 which is well under construction and has really raised to bar in terms of quality of finish for the Jomtien area. They offer excellent payment terms (70% on completion and transfer), unique designs and some interesting room layouts.
I guess some other developers have caught wind of this area’s increasing popularity because the newly pre-launched Cetus Condo (from the same developer as the very successful Apus Condo in Pattaya) is located around Soi 17, and, from the size of the land, Lumpini is developing what looks to be a massive condo project just before Metro Jomtien. I’ve heard units here will start at under 1 million Baht (not bad for beachfront!).
Even further down, two very large projects are slated next to La Royale which will be comprised of low-rise units as well as beachfront towers (they’re yet to be officially launched, so I’ll hold back on naming the developers here). This is a very nice area that has been begging to be developed. The nice thing down there is that there is no road separating the projects from the beach and you don’t need to jump on Sukhumvit to access them as you do with the many condos in Baan Amphur & Najomtien.
Investor Tip: It’s interesting how times have changed. Several years ago we couldn’t give away condos this far down the beach. Metro Jomtien has always been the most affordable beachfront building in the area, but the biggest objection I’d almost always get was that it’s just too far south. There are still some units in Metro with superb seaviews for under 40,000 THB per sqm. The building has recently had the swimming pool, tennis courts, gym and squash court refinished, and the lobby, hallways and elevators are tapped for refinishing this year. Trust me, once these other projects down here get underway, Metro prices will rise dramatically, so now’s the time to get in here.
Being Foreclosed Upon and Still Making Money?
I’ve read a couple of articles recently about the massive amount of foreclosed properties in the States and what’s becoming of them. Many properties, particularly in poorer areas, are simply being demolished and the areas are being rezoned for factories or commercial properties. Others are being sold at auction to the few liquid investors left for as low as 10% of what was paid for them 10 years ago.
One interesting thing has been happening: some properties that have been foreclosed upon are being sold for more money than what’s due to their lender.
I couldn’t imagine having my property foreclosed upon – I think for 99% of people you’d simply write it off and just assume that any money you’d put into it was gone forever. But there are actually hundreds of millions of dollars being held by the clerks at circuit courts in the States that are due to the people who were foreclosed upon. The trouble is, most people aren’t aware that they’re due back this money and have now moved elsewhere in the country and cannot be contacted. One particular person in the Chicago area is owed $460,000! It’s nice to hear some good news coming out of such an awful situation.
