Real Estate Investment

Koh Samui is today a renowned international holiday destination, with visitors and investors from all over the world. The British and Hong Kong expats represent the largest number of property buyers, followed by many European, Asian, Australasian and American investors. The number of older more affluent visitors coming to Samui has also increased rapidly. Underscoring the promising outlook for Samui is the fact that luxury hotel groups such as, The Four Seasons, IBIS and Sila Evason, have recently chosen Koh Samui as opposed to the more mature destination of Phuket. With over 150 excellent hotels and Spa Resorts, restaurants, two 18 hole championship golf courses, Koh Samui has developed in to a truly up-market holiday destination. The number of visitors from Asian countries is also increasing due to improved air links. You can already fly direct to Samui from Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. This transformation into an up-market international holiday destination is reflected in the real estate market where prices have increased dramatically, over the last few years.

The island is unique, in that it offers the necessary requirements of a developed destination, yet still retains the feel of a romantic tropical island, unlike Phuket, which is linked to the mainland by a short bridge. Samui provides luxury, modern living in a romantic island setting. Laws also exist in Koh Samui which have had a very positive effect on constraining over development, thus protecting the environment. For example, buildings cannot generally exceed 12 meters in height, which has prevented the island from a high rise skyline, again, unlike Phuket and also Pattaya.

Koh Samui, in the coming months will also achieve city status by the Thai government, this will lead to a larger budget being allocated, therefore larger capital investment, improving the quality of infrastructure on the island. Better infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals and transport links, along with leisure facilities, such as golf courses and cinemas, make the island a viable and appealing place to live semi-permanently, or permanently. This is reflected in the increasing number of expatriates, generally affluent in nature, which has a very positive impact on property prices.

From an investment standpoint, Samui also remains fairly inexpensive compared to the likes of Spain and Portugal, which have historically been the most popular place for European buyers. This value is even more apparent when you compare Samui to Hong Kong and Singapore, where land is especially expensive.

A key factor, behind the islands property market is its tremendous overall value, compared to other holiday destinations. Excellent returns can be achieved through the luxury property rental market. It is estimated that on Samui, investors can be looking at yields 8-10% per year, whereas many other alternative destinations offer 4-6%, mainly due to rapid price increases.

The fact that Samui is now an international destination also means that the property prices are less vulnerable to slumps in any single market. For example, unlike Bangkok, Samui would be largely affected by a downturn in Thai house prices, unless it affected international buyers.

In all these ways, Samui has a great deal going for it just in terms of financial fundamentals while a maturing market means that property investing here no longer involves the same level of risk compared to a few years ago.