Property prices on Rattanathibet Road on the east side of the Chao Phraya River have risen as high as six-fold in eight years, driven by Purple Line development, which is scheduled to start running in 2016.
The mass transit line attracted property developers to buy land plots for condo development, said Opas Sripayak, managing director of SET-listed developer L.P.N. Development Plc.
This increased land prices on Rattanathibet Road from the Sanam Bin Nam intersection to the Kae Rai intersection, some 4.6 kilometres, from 25,000 baht per square wah in 2006 to 150,000 baht this year.
L.P.N. launched a budget condo project, Lumpini Condo Town Rattanathibet, in this area in 2006 with prices of around 500,000 baht for a 25-sq-metre unit. Now prices for a resale unit have more than doubled to 1.1 million baht.
Near the Si Phon Sawan station of the Purple Line, L.P.N. bought a plot priced 75,000 baht per sq w on average in 2012 for its Lumpini Park Rattanathibet-Ngam Wong Wan project, launched the same year. Unit prices started at 58,000 baht per sq m two years ago, rising to 70,000 baht now.
"The increase in prices started when the mass transit project started piling work," said Mr Opas.
Condo developers are eager to buy up plots as soon as bidding for a new mass transit line is announced.
The Real Estate Information Center (REIC) reported seven new condo projects with a total of 4,406 units launched in the first five months of the year along the Purple Line from Tao Poon to Bang Yai, within 1 km of stations. Four are from listed companies, one from a midsized developer and two from a local developer.
As of 2013, there were 26,404 condo units at 31 projects on Rattanathibet Road near new mass transit locations with an average sales rate of 70%.
"Rattanathibet was ranked the third-most competitive location in the condo sector two years ago, following Ratchadaphisek and On Nut," he said.
Of 38 condo projects on Rattanathibet Road as of May 2014, 30 are located east of the Chao Phraya River because it is closer to the city.
"Land prices west of the river from Sai Ma to Bang Yai soared too high for condo development in the segment we usually target," said Mr Opas.
He added there are many townhouses, single houses and vacant plots available on the west side.