EEC housing approvals fell in Q1 while transfers moved higher

Land-allocation approvals dropped, but building permits did not

During Q1, 21 housing projects covering 1,433 units received land-allocation approvals. The project count was 30% lower than a year earlier and the number of units fell 45.5%. Chonburi accounted for 844 of those units, followed by Rayong with 323 and Chachoengsao with 266.

The wider construction-permit data moved the other way. REIC recorded permits covering 6,116 homes, up 5.1% year on year. All of those permits were for low-rise housing, while the report recorded no condominium building permits for the quarter. That makes the supply picture more nuanced than the headline decline in land-allocation approvals alone.

For practical context, see How to buy property in Thailand. This development also connects with Thailand housing: transfers rise as permit pipeline weakens.

Transfers increased 11.6%, led by faster growth in Rayong

Ownership transfers across the three EEC provinces reached 10,644 homes with a combined value of about THB 25.05 billion. The number of transferred units rose 11.6% year on year and their value increased 6%. Low-rise homes accounted for 7,434 transfers, with condominiums making up the remaining 3,210.

Chonburi remained the largest market with 7,078 transfers, up 6.9%, although their combined value was almost flat at THB 17.42 billion. Rayong recorded 2,691 transfers, a 24% increase, while transfer value rose 25.2%. Chachoengsao reached 875 transfers, up 17.8% from the same period of 2025.

REIC said government measures contributed to demand, including reduced transfer and mortgage registration fees for qualifying transactions and a temporary easing of the Bank of Thailand's loan-to-value rules. That is REIC's assessment of contributing factors, not evidence that those measures alone caused the increase.

**September data show the market had already moved on from Q1**

The June report is now a historical Q1 snapshot rather than a description of current conditions. REIC's later Q2 release recorded 4,491 new housing sales across the EEC, up 23.2% year on year. Remaining unsold supply stood at 61,945 units, down 5.3%, with an overall monthly absorption rate of 2.3%. REIC estimated that, with no additional supply entering the market, clearing the existing stock would take about 41 months.

For a buyer, that later evidence is a useful check on any shortage narrative based only on Q1 approvals. Developers were clearly cautious in parts of the new-project pipeline, yet the region still carried substantial inventory and conditions differed across Chonburi, Rayong and Chachoengsao. A Pattaya condominium should therefore be judged against its own local competition, remaining stock and sales pace rather than against a single EEC-wide percentage.