An artist's rendition of the Supalai Premier Taksin-Wongwian Yai condo project. The project consists of 828 units priced at 77,000 baht per square metre on average.

New condo launches priced below market averages are attracting buyers despite a sluggish economy, a contracting residential sector and weakened purchasing power, according to SET-listed developer Supalai.

Tritecha Tangmatitham, managing director of Supalai, said the condo market rebounded to about 90% of normal levels from July to August, after slowing in the first half due to weak sentiment in the first quarter and the impact of the March 28 earthquake in the second quarter.

"Sentiment slowed again this month, but conditions are still better than in the second quarter," he said. "A few new projects avoided weak sales, recording strong take-up as their prices were set below market averages. Price performance is significant."

Late last month, the company launched Supalai Elite Sukhumvit 39, a 192-unit project on Sukhumvit Soi 39 with unit sizes starting at 56.5 square metres, priced from 6.3 million baht or 120,000 baht per sq m on average.

The project sold out on its launch day -- the only new condo in Greater Bangkok to achieve that feat this year -- as its prices were set below the market average of more than 150,000 baht per sq m and it offered unit sizes rarely available in the surrounding area, said Mr Tritecha.

"Condo buyers now seek affordable units that allow them to secure mortgages with confidence, while investment buyers are returning if yields are attractive," he said.

Over the past two years, buyers preferred developers to include everything in the units, pushing up prices so they could secure a mortgage covering all costs at once, said Mr Tritecha.

That trend has changed, as many buyers opt to strip out extras, even solar rooftops on low-rise houses that could reduce electricity bills, seeking to keep unit prices lower and facilitate mortgage approval.

The ability to price new condos below market averages stemmed from securing land at favourable costs, as competition for plots eased significantly during the economic slowdown the past 1-2 years, he said.

"This change allowed us to launch projects at more affordable levels," said Mr Tritecha. "Land prices today are more than 10% lower than two years ago. Many plots were secured at pre-negotiated prices, while some were acquired at the seller's original purchase cost from a decade ago."

Competition for condo development land was minimal due to weak market sentiment, challenges in securing corporate loans, and difficulties in issuing new debentures, even as this year recorded the largest number of plots offered by property developers, he said.

Supalai set a 2025 land investment budget of 8 billion baht and has already spent half. The company's average cost of funds was 2.63% as of the end of June 2025, said Mr Tritecha.

"Strong financial capacity allows us to acquire land at favourable deals with no rival bids, as well as negotiate better terms with contractors as construction activity has been reduced the past 1-2 years," he said.

The presales performance of all developers, including Supalai, is expected to fall short of targets set earlier this year as the market has been sluggish for several months due to the earthquake and the US tariff hike, said Mr Tritecha.

The company is maintaining its presales target of 32 billion baht for 2025, despite recording only 11.9 billion in the first half.