Phuket villas priced between 8-15 million baht will continue to see healthy take-up rates this year while those priced over 300 million baht hold gloomy prospects, says property consultant Knight Frank Phuket.

Nattha Kahapana, the company's executive director, said villa units priced in the range of 8 to 15 million baht possess good sales prospects.

As of the end of the third quarter last year, there were 1,982 units sold out of 2,542 units. This represented a sales rate of 78% with 168 villas sold in 2017.

On the other hand, villas priced over 300 million baht per unit hold poor prospects. Sales transactions were quite stagnant and only a few units sold, he said.

Average unit sales prices will be stable or slightly increase. There will be more resale villas entering the market.

In Phuket there were a total of 2,542 villas. During the first nine months of 2017, 178 units were added to the villa market.

The majority of new villas added during the first nine months of 2017 included two-bedroom units priced between 8-12 million baht. The bulk of the new supply was located in the centre of the island, near Bang Tao, Surin and Kamala beaches.

"Villa buyers are still foreigners and expatriates living in Asia such as Hong Kong, Singapore and China," said Mr Nattha.

There were also some foreigners from Australia and New Zealand buying villas in Phuket for a second home. Buyers from China were among the top three villa buyers in Phuket following those from Hong Kong and Singapore.

"Non-stop flights taking only a few hours from some cities in China to Phuket also helped boost the market," he said.

Knight Frank's research found the Phuket villa sales rate in the third quarter of 2017 improved to 76.7% in 2016 from 71.8% in 2015. The sales rate in 2015 dipped from 76.7% in 2014 and 72.8% in 2013 as new supply launched in 2015 totalled 302 units, the highest from 2008-2016.