Mr Anant Asavabhokhin, president of Land & Houses Public Company Limited, said about the overall property market in 2002 that the housing registration in Greater Bangkok totaled 34,035 units, of which units built by developers rose 13.6% and individually-built units decreased 9.9%.

The total units offered by developers in 2002 were classified as following;

• The detached house sector reported the total registration of 8,604 units, compared to 5,802 units in 2001, or a 48.29% growth.
• Townhouses were totally registered at 5,731 units, compared to 3,785 units in 2001, or a 51.41% increase.
• The condominium sector saw its registration fall to 1,971 units from 4,693 units in 2001, or a 58% contraction.

Contributing to the big drop of condominium registration in 2002 was the existing condominium supply in the market was for low-income earners who were reluctant to obtain housing loans from banks. On the other hands, middle- to high-class condominium units are in short of supply and it will take times to develop these kinds of projects as they will require a longer construction period than detached houses and townhouses.

Mr Anant viewed that the outlook of housing market in 2003 would continue to improve on the back of economic recovery, low interest rates and government incentives to encourage people to own a house.

The total units built by property developers in 2002 were only 11.6% of the peak at 140,301 units in 1995.

Mr Adisorn Thananun-narapool, senior executive vice president of Land & Houses Public Company Limited, disclosed the performance of company and subsidiaries in 2002 that it posted a consolidated net profit of 3.82 billion baht, a 146% jump from 1.551 billion baht in 2001.

The gains in performance in 2002 came from many reasons including;

1. The company and subsidiaries reported sales revenues totaling 15.103 billion baht from the transfer of house to homebuyers, up 45% from 2001.
2. Expenses for marketing and sales of the company and subsidiaries declined to the very low level at 7.6% of the total sales in 2002 when compared to the industry, reducing from 9.4% of the total sales in 2001. This was due mainly to the efficiency of internal operation that enabled the company to handle more development works with the same number of staff members.
3. Interest expenses in 2002 reduced more than 200 million baht because the company and subsidiaries could gradually repay debts to creditors and the cost of funds was lowered due to low interest rates.

About the financial status of company and subsidiaries in 2002, debts totaling 2.2 billion baht were repaid to creditors and the shareholders' equity rose more than five billion baht. The debt to equity ratio stood at 0.40:1 at the end of 2002, down from 0.73: 1 in 2001.

Mr Adisorn added about the investment budget and financing that the company set aside four billion baht to invest in new housing projects in 2002.

Of the total, at least three billion baht would be spent to acquire new land plots for future developments in 2004. The rest would be co-invested in a property fund, which needed money to take over new projects and finish the existing projects on hands. All of the budget would come from the cash flow from normal operation.

Mr Naporn Sunthornchitcharoen, another senior executive vice president of Land & Houses Public Company Limited, said that the company would grow its sales by 20% this year and the total delivery of houses to buyers in Bangkok and provinces would rise 20% from 2,800 units in 2002. This would make the company hold a 25% market share of the housing segment supplied by developers.

Currently, the company has 26 housing projects under the construction, of which 20 are in Bangkok and six in provinces. This year, the company will launch 15 new housing estates, driving the total projects to exceed 41 and 35 of them are in Greater Bangkok.

• The first quarter: Three new projects; Park Gallery Rama II, Chaiyapruk Tivanont-Ring Road and Cholada Ring Road-Rattanathibet, have been already opened sales activities.
• The second quarter: Another three new projects will be added on locations of Watcharapol-Ram Inthra, Rama V, and Sukhumvit 103-Srinakarin.
• The third quarter: Sales of four additional projects will be launched in Pin Klao-Puthamonthol 2, Sukhumvit 77, Rangsit Klong 4 and Ramkhamhaeng-Suvintawong areas.
• The last quarter of 2003: The company will kick off sales activities of five new projects including those in Charoenkrung, Rangsit Klong 4, Ram Inthra KM 2, Pin Klao-Puthamonthol and Talingchan areas.

The total project values are estimated at 22 billion baht. Among the new 15 projects, twelve of them will be detached houses with prices varying between 2.5-10 million baht and the rest of three will be townhouses costing from 3 million baht.

Mr Naporn explained that all detached houses for sales in 2003 would be pre-built. The company has focused on developing the home standard to meet buyer requirements and improving the construction management efficiency to deliver quality houses.

At every project sites, the company will develop and complete infrastructures and community environment since they are launched to allow buyers who are ready to move in.

The company is confident that the detached house market still has a lot of potential to grow and demand from real buyers is steady. This is the golden time for consumers to buy a house because of the state support and the higher competition of banks to extend mortgages.

''Moreover, the company is interested to develop some condominiums as the market has bright prospect. We are preparing to buy land plots for condominium projects and it is predicted that the condominium projects will be launched sales in 2004,'' Mr Naporn commented.