A bird's-eye view of Pattaya City in Chon Buri, one of the three provinces hosting the EEC. (Photo by Patipat Janthong)

A decrease in new residential supply launched in three key eastern provinces in the second half of last year helped improve the average sales rate in the location to over 70%.

Vichai Viratkapan, acting director-general of the Real Estate Information Center (REIC), said housing demand in Chon Buri, Rayong and Chachoengsao remained strong.

"Housing transfers in the eastern region continued rising," he said. "The amount rose to 57,314 units, worth a total of 103 billion baht last year from 47,256 units worth a combined 84 billion, second only to Greater Bangkok."

Last year, the three provinces saw a drop in the number of land allocation permits, low-rise construction permits and condo construction permits by 2.4% to 17,290 units, 17.1% to 24,911 units and 53.7% to 4,486 units, respectively.

The peak period for the three types of permit was 2013-16, which created concern about oversupply during 2017-18.

One of the key drivers for strong demand in the housing sector in the provinces was the eastern region's population growth of 1.2%, which was higher than the nationwide figure of 0.5%.

Vichai Viratkapan, acting director-general of the Real Estate Information Center (REIC). (No photo credit needed)

Chon Buri saw growth of 2%, followed by Rayong with 1.8% and Chachoengsao with 0.7%.

The five-year average increase in housing stock in the eastern region (3.6%) was also higher than nationwide growth (2.2%), driven by Chon Buri and Rayong with 4.6% each and Chachoengsao with 3%.

According to a market survey last year, Chon Buri, Rayong and Chachoengsao had a total of 185,179 residential units from 974 projects worth a combined 561.22 billion baht as of the end of last year. Of this amount, 70.5% was sold.

The total supply comprised 107,266 low-rise units worth 301 billion baht, 77,358 condo units worth 245.25 billion baht and 555 villas worth 14.88 billion baht.

Of the remaining 54,653 units, 39,829 units were low-rise, which accounted for 37%. Unsold condos totalled 14,662 units, making up 19%, and the rest were villas.

In Chon Buri, the remaining supply totalled 37,160 units worth 129 billion baht. This comprised 23,363 low-rise units worth 69.7 billion baht, 13,635 condo units worth 54.9 billion baht and 162 villas worth 4.56 billion baht.