Property Perfect launches three new city condos

Bangkok developer Property Perfect has decided to swim against the economic tide and will launch three new city condominium projects this weekend worth Bt12 billion, hoping to boost its sales in the final two months of 2008.

Chief operating officer Teerachon Manomaiphibul said the three new condominiums would be MetroSky Ratchada, MetroSky Sukhumvit and MetroPark Sathorn. Each of them is valued at Bt4 billion.

The company will launch the first phase of all three projects, with an average of 300 units per project, at starting prices between Bt1.5 million and Bt1.7 million for units with 30 square metres of floor space.

MetroSky Ratchada will sell at prices starting from Bt1.7 million per unit; MetroSky Sukhumvit from Bt1.6 million; and MetroPark Sathorn from Bt1.5 million. All three projects are in the process of applying for environmental impact assessment permits.

Teerachon said his company believed that growth in demand for residential projects would continue, despite the general economic slowdown and the country's political turmoil. Many property firms were delaying new residential projects in the final months of the year and as a result some locations, especially Ratchada, Sukhumvit and Sathorn, would end up with a significant shortage.

"We believe that this is the best time for us to launch our three new city condominium projects to boost our sales in the last quarter of the year. We will offer special packages to customers who decide to buy at an event we are staging at Siam Paragon, called 'Perfect Moment'," he said, adding that event would start tomorrow and run through the weekend.

Property Perfect will offer a discount of up to 5 per cent in the purchase price, together with free airconditioning, a pantry set and wallpaper for customers deciding to buy from one of the three projects this weekend.

"We delayed our plans to launch these condominiums in the first half of the year because the cost of construction raw material - especially steel - was rising. Now that the price of steel has fallen, along with some other construction raw materials, we have decided that now is a good time to go ahead," he said.

Property Perfect expects presales from the three new projects to reach Bt1 billion before the end of the year. If achieved, this will boost the company's total presales to Bt8 billion in 2008. It recorded presales of Bt6 billion in the first nine months.

The company recorded Bt3.9 billion in revenue and a net profit of Bt452.4 million in the first half of this year.

To achieve its target with the three new condominiums, property Perfect has set aside a marketing budget of Bt30 million. It plans to use integrated marketing, but each of the projects will have a different concept.

MetroSky Ratchada will have a "lagoon in the city" theme; MetroSky Sukhumvit - with its views of the Chao Phya River - will have a riverside concept; and MetroPark Sathorn will have a beach concept.

The company began its advertising campaign last week and is using 1,000 telephone lines for customer call back. The reaction has bolstered its confidence that the three projects will meet their sales targets, Teerachon said.