Property developers in major tourist destinations have adjusted strategies – downsizing units, discounting prices and shifting to rental market – to survive the global economic slump and local political tensions, say property brokerage firms.

Piyanuj Madnurak, general manager of Advance Inter Development Co Ltd, a property brokerage on Koh Samui, said the offering prices of residential units on the southern island decreased by 10-20% in 2009 and most of the units offered for sale were owned by foreigners.

A survey by REIC found the average selling rate of housing projects in Muang, Krathu and Thalang districts in Phuket was only 3% in the third quarter of 2009.

As of the end of the third quarter, 60 housing projects with 8,950 units worth 31.8 billion baht were on the market. Of these, about 6,500 units were sold, leaving 2,470 units available for sale.

“If there is no new supply in the market, it will take two years to sell the remaining units,” he said yesterday in a seminar on beach resort property.

via Resort projects struggled in 2009.