Failure to Launch

The quietness on property launches so far this year is deafening. With the exception of Surin's "The Quarter' which hit the market in Q1 so far resort grade real estate entries have been muted. I'm in Bangkok today where leading developer TCC have announced two new condominium launches for H2 2009 at a consolidated valued over THB 4 billion. In the capital's dailies the TCC CEO has been quoted as saying "we will focus on Thai buyers rather then foreigners, as they still have no confidence in Thailand."
Its interesting to note another leading edge indicator with Thailand's largest cement maker SCG reporting a forecasted 10-15% drop in demand for the full year and stating they have reduced prices on some products by 10% to fuel revenue. At the same time they have cancelled plans for an expansion in Cambodia who is also feeling the strain of the economic slowdown.