The walking street in the Old Town area in central Phuket is clogged with visitors. (File photo: Achadthaya Chuenniran)

Phuket, Rayong and Samui were the only destinations to record growth in residential transfers in the first quarter of 2025, following a crackdown on nominee ownership by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB).

Kamonpop Veerapala, president of the Government Housing Bank and acting director-general of the Real Estate Information Center (REIC), said the crackdown led to a decline in nominee ownership and encouraged more legal property transfers.

"The crackdown deterred both foreign buyers and Thais involved in facilitating nominee ownership from engaging in illegal practices," he said. "As a result, residential transfers in destinations with strong foreign demand increased in the first quarter."

Since November last year, the Department of Business Development partnered with the Royal Thai Police to crack down on the use of Thai nominees by foreign businesses across Thailand, including in the property sector.

"In many cases, foreign buyers were unaware that using a nominee structure was illegal, and simply followed advice from the Thais who encouraged it," said Mr Kamonpop. "Once they understood that nominee ownership of property is against the law, many opted to transfer the property legally."

According to the REIC, Phuket recorded the highest year-on-year growth in residential transfers in the first quarter of 2025, up 9%, followed by Surat Thani with an increase of 6.2%.

The key driver in Surat Thani was activity on Koh Samui, where strong demand for residential units came from foreign buyers, particularly in the upper-end segment.

The total transfer value in the province saw the highest growth nationwide, surging by 15.1%.

Rayong ranked third in terms of unit numbers, with residential transfers rising by 3.8% to 2,171 units worth 4.58 billion baht, an increase of 2.7% in value.

Growth was driven by rising demand from Chinese buyers working in the industrial sector.

In contrast, all other provinces nationwide experienced a decline across the board. The 74 other provinces recorded a total of 20,855 residential transfers worth a combined 37 billion baht, representing year-on-year decreases of 11.9% in units and 15.4% in value.

"Foreign demand helped drive growth in these three destinations, even as the overall market shrank," Mr Kamonpop said. "In fact, foreign demand declined, but legal transfers rose as previously hidden transactions became officially recorded."

In the first quarter of 2025, condo transfers to foreigners nationwide fell by 0.5% to 3,919 units, with the total value falling 9% to 16.4 billion baht.

Despite the drop, the proportion of foreign transfers rose by unit to 18% from 16.7% and 10.7% in the first and fourth quarters of last year, respectively. By value, the proportion rose to 29.3% from 28.6% and 19.9%, highlighting weaker demand from local buyers.

The top three nationalities remained unchanged: Chinese buyers led with 1,481 units (down 7.2% year-on-year), followed by Myanmar nationals with 439 units (up 12%) and Russians with 288 units (down 2.4%).