Land investment picked up in the first half after a two-year slowdown, with most deals occurring in the central business district, says a local property consultant.

According to Kitisak Jampathipphong, chief executive of Century 21 Realty Affiliates (Thailand), his company alone recorded 6 billion baht in land sales in the first seven months of the year, shifting five plots mostly in the central business district, compared with 8 billion baht for the whole of 2015.

"Land investment had slowed down since 2014 due to economic sentiment," Mr Kitisak said. "Many developers and land purchasers also waited for prices to decrease or cool down after prices skyrocketed a few years ago."

Costly land prices in recent years prompted some developers to switch to developing small-scale low-rise projects on small sois with unit sales prices of 30 million baht or more, he said.

Driven by the forthcoming land and buildings tax and the inheritance tax, land transactions resumed in the first half of this year.

But land prices have yet to decline because most landlords still feel little pressure to sell their land in haste.

According to Mr Kitisak, the highest price per square wah from an actual transaction remains a plot on Chidlom Road with a closing price of 1.9 million baht, bought by SET-listed developer SC Asset Corporation a year ago.

The deal, made by Century 21, drove the offering prices of nearby land plots to 2.4 million baht per sq wah.

Mr Kitisak said soaring land prices only happen in prime locations where plots are scarce. Among the dearest spots are those between the Chidlom and Phloenchit skytrain stations.

Attractive available land includes a 1,000-square-wah plot near Central Chidlom, where the department store has been leasing space from the Sukosol family for parking; a plot opposite Central Embassy currently rented by food stalls and shops; and a plot near the Noble Ploenchit condominium.

The second and third best-selling locations are along the Blue Line and the extension of the skytrain's Sukhumvit Line from Mor Chit to Saphan Mai.