Thailand's housing market grew while foreign condo transfers declined

The headline market growth did not extend to foreign condo buyers

The Real Estate Information Center (REIC) of Thailand's Government Housing Bank reported 167,665 residential ownership transfers nationwide in January–June 2026. Their combined value reached THB 429.839 billion. Transfer volume rose 17.6% from a year earlier and value increased 9.8%.

Condominiums were one of the stronger parts of the overall figures. Thailand recorded 56,041 condo transfers in the first half, up 24.1% year on year, with a combined value of THB 130.407 billion, up 19.3%.

Foreign-buyer data told a different story. Foreign nationals took ownership of 6,533 condo units worth THB 28.267 billion during the same six months. Unit transfers fell 8.8% year on year and transfer value declined 1.5%. Foreign buyers represented 11.7% of all condo transfers by unit count but 21.7% by value.

That distinction matters. A strong nationwide transfer figure does not mean overseas buyers were expanding at the same pace. REIC linked the broader market's first-half performance partly to government measures and easier housing-credit conditions, but those drivers should not be assumed to affect foreign buyers in the same way.

Russian buyers moved sharply against the wider foreign trend

The foreign market was not moving as a single block. Chinese buyers remained the largest nationality group, with 1,813 condo transfers worth THB 6.874 billion. Both measures were lower than a year earlier: unit volume fell 23.8% and value dropped 27.7%.

Russian buyers moved in the opposite direction. They took title to 842 units worth THB 3.603 billion in the first half of 2026. Unit volume increased 50.4% year on year and transfer value rose 75.9%, placing Russia second among foreign buyer groups by both units and total value.

The average transferred unit for Russian buyers was worth about THB 4.3 million and measured 41.8 square metres. Those figures describe the mix of completed ownership transfers; they are not a price index and do not show that every condo or location popular with Russian buyers appreciated at a similar rate.

How to use the data when assessing a purchase

For a buyer or investor, the practical lesson is to separate the national market from the foreign-buyer market and then look again at individual nationality groups. In the same six-month period, Thailand posted strong overall transfer growth, weaker foreign condo transfers, and much stronger Russian activity within that foreign segment.

REIC's figures track registered ownership transfers. They are useful evidence of transactions that actually reached the transfer stage, but they do not by themselves measure current reservations, future demand or the next move in prices. A decision on a specific property still needs local evidence on asking and transaction levels, competing supply, foreign-ownership conditions and the full cost of completing the purchase.