The perspective of a condominium project developed by L.P.N. Development Plc.

The economic slowdown and rising household debt have hurt demand for low- and middle-priced condominiums, with first-half sales lower than the market average, according to a report released Thursday.

During that period, overall new launches of condominium units priced below 3 million baht saw a lower sales rate year-on-year, L.P.N. Development Plc reported yesterday.

The largest drop was in condominiums priced 2-3 million baht a unit, with a sales rate of only 24%, down from 38% last year, followed by units priced below 1 million at 29%, down from 42%.

The sales rate for units priced 1.5 to 2 million baht dropped slightly to 38% from 40%, while the rate for units priced 1 to 1.5 million fell to 36% from 41%.

The condo sales rate for the overall low and middle price segments on launch dates was stable at 41%, the same as last year.

New condo supply priced above 3 million baht recorded sales of more than 60%.

The top three locations for new condo supply in the first half showed a lower sales rate than the market average.

The largest number of new launches was along the Purple Line (Bang Sue to Saphan Phra Nangklao) with 4,271 units, of which 28% were sold on the launch date.

The Purple Line will start running in December, but the sales rate was low due to a high level of supply remaining.

The second largest was along an extension of the Green Line from Bearing to Samut Prakan, where the number of new condominiums launched totalled 4,121 units, with 30% sold.

The third largest was in Klong San, Wong Wian Yai and Thon Buri, where 4,064 units were launched but only 14% sold due largely to too much supply remaining.

New projects with the lowest first-half sales rate was in Thon Buri district. The lowest was Aspire Sathorn-Ratchapruek by AP (Thailand), with a sales rate of only 6% of its 1,087 units on the launch date.

The economy did not recover in the first half, while the household debt problem further dampened new-home purchases in the low-end and middle-market segments.

New condo supply priced above 200,000 baht a square metre on average had good presales, with a sales rate of 54%.

Condominiums accounted for two-thirds of new residential supply launched in the first half, with 33,754 units at 64 projects compared with 17,233 townhouses and single houses at 100 projects.

The total amount of new supply dropped by 10% year-on-year to 50,987 units.

The largest decline was in townhouses, down by 27%, followed by single houses with a 13% drop. New condominium supply decreased by only 4%.

Despite the drop in number of new condo units, sales value rose by 130% year-on-year to 107 billion baht due largely to the launch of a higher number of units priced above 3 million, the research reported.

Some 40% of low-rise supply was priced below 3 million baht a unit, with Nonthaburi's Bang Yai district most popular location for new low-rise supply, followed by Bangkok's Don Muang and Klong Sam Wa districts.

The largest condo supply was units priced 2-3 million baht apiece, which accounted for 27% of the total, with the most popular location for these being along the Purple Line.

Purple Line locations also recorded the largest number of newly registered condo units in the first five months at 5,503 units or 31% of the total.

This was followed by the Rama IX-Ratchadaphisek area with 1,728 units (10% of the total) and On Nut-Phatthanakan with 1,618 units (9%).

The total number of newly registered condo units in the first five months was 17,987, up by 21% year-on-year.