Three property groups seek urgent measures to revive Thai real estate

Overall economic conditions in the country remain in a continuing slowdown.

In 2026, the economy will also be affected by important factors such as the United States’ tariff policy and the war in the Middle East, as well as the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia that has continued from 2025.

This has created high living costs and high household debt.

These factors have left Thailand’s real estate business in 2026 in a severe slowdown, with residential ownership transfers at their lowest point in more than 10 years.

It was also found that commercial banks’ rejection rate for people seeking loans to buy homes had risen to 40–50% of loan applicants.

This has pushed housing lending, or Post Finance, to its lowest level in 12 years.

If the property business continues to slow in this way, the Thai economy may be unable to move beyond the slowdown.

Real estate is a key economic driver for Thailand.

Revenue generated by the Thai property sector accounts for about 8–9% of Thailand’s gross domestic product (GDP).

This is because the sector is linked to many upstream and downstream industries, helps create more than one million jobs, uses domestic production inputs at a high level of 90%, and helps generate money circulating in the economy, creating a multiplier effect of more than twice the money generated by the real estate business.

For this reason, three property organisations, the Housing Business Association, the Thai Condominium Association and the Thai Real Estate Association have set out proposal-based views to Ekniti Nitithanprapas, Minister of Finance, for consideration of various measures.

The measures are intended to help revive and stimulate the real estate business, which would have positive effects on related upstream and downstream businesses and help stimulate the country’s overall economy.

In addition, many of the real estate measures discussed below are consistent with the Thailand Green Economy and could help drive Thailand towards its Net Zero Emission target, or net zero greenhouse gas emissions, in 2050, a shared goal of the global community.

The proposals can be divided into four groups as follows.

Urgent measures to support property transfers nationwide

The aim is to prevent transfers from falling below 316,000 units and ownership transfer value from falling below THB860 billion a year, the lowest level in eight years.

The organisations asked for consideration of an extension of the measure, reducing ownership transfer fees from 2% to 0.01%, and mortgage registration fees from 1% to 0.01%, for property purchases and sales at all price levels, covering both new and second-hand properties.

However, the transaction value eligible for the fee reduction should be capped at THB7 million, with normal fees applied to any portion above THB7 million.

They asked for the measure to continue for at least the next one to two years.

The measure is due to expire on Tuesday (June 30, 2026).

They also asked the Ministry of Finance to support coordination with the Bank of Thailand to maintain the easing of the 100% LTV measure, allowing buyers to borrow to purchase residential property at 100% of contract value for every contract and every price level, including first, second, and third and subsequent homes.

This measure is also due to expire on Tuesday (June 30, 2026).

They also asked for the promotion of risk-based pricing so that people with good financial records can access loans at appropriate interest rates and improve the overall efficiency of lending in the system.

They also sought effective transmission of the Policy Rate to the Active Rate charged by commercial banks to customers, so that government interest rate cuts have a real impact on the public and business operators.

Measures to reduce energy use in homes by about 15% per household

To respond to the Thailand Green Economy policy, special measures should be introduced for properties certified for energy saving by credible domestic and foreign agencies, such as the Thai Green Building Institute, the No. 5 energy-saving label, Thailand Energy Awards and other equivalent certifications.

They also asked for specific business tax to be reduced from 3.3% to 1.65%, land and building tax to be cut by 50%, and special additional loan facilities of 70–80% for property project developers, limited to items that promote energy saving, such as solar cells and smart energy management systems.

They also sought special interest rates reduced by 1% from normal rates for operators applying for loans to develop property projects.

Special interest rates should also be reduced by 1% from normal rates for borrowers applying for loans to buy property, with a further 1% reduction from normal rates for borrowers applying for loans to buy first homes.

They also asked for measures to manage surplus electricity generated by household solar cells, such as selling it back to the state or storing it collectively and allocating it for use within communities.

Measures to stimulate lending and address household debt

These aim to use real estate as collateral, with a target of reducing commercial bank loan rejections from an average of 40% to 20%, and bringing household debt to GDP below 80%.

They proposed a Consolidated Debt measure, or debt consolidation, to restore buyer capacity.

The “Consolidated Debt” measure should be expanded to cover unsecured debts and other short-term debts held by the public, bringing them together as long-term loans with lower monthly repayments and making it easier to apply for housing loans, as many people currently carry scattered debt burdens.

This has caused them to fail DSR, or Debt Service Ratio, criteria even when they have actual repayment capacity.

Debt consolidation would help “restore borrowing capacity” for the Real Demand group, increase opportunities to own homes and reduce the risk of bad debt in the system.

The main agencies are the Bank of Thailand and financial institutions.

They also proposed a policy to address informal debt through a Warehouse Debt approach.

Because the government must accelerate efforts to solve household debt problems, especially informal debt or high-interest debt, which holds back people’s spending power and ability to repay debt, the Warehouse Debt approach would help people borrow against the repaid principal of their housing loans to repay high-interest debt at lower interest rates.

This would help ease and resolve debtors’ financial problems and build domestic purchasing power.

The related agencies are the Bank of Thailand and financial institutions.

They also proposed promoting a Mortgage Guarantee system by expanding the role of the Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation (TCG) in guaranteeing loans for people seeking to buy property.

This could include guaranteeing part of the loan, such as 20% of the loan, for borrowers whose property purchase is intended to generate income, self-employed borrowers and borrowers who are denied loans by financial institutions for other reasons.

This would help reduce risk for financial institutions and increase public access to credit, especially for middle- and low-income groups.

The related agencies are the Ministry of Finance, the Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation, the Thai Bankers’ Association and the Government Financial Institutions Association.

Measures to draw purchasing power from high-potential foreigners

These are intended to address foreign property holdings through nominees and increase property tax collection from foreigners by about 10%, including the collection of Windfall Tax from increases in land value arising from state infrastructure development.

Examples include mass transit systems, with the revenue used to establish a housing support fund for low-income people and the elderly, and a first-home support fund for low-income earners and retired people who lack housing.

They proposed considering an increase in the maximum registration period for transactions involving rights over leasehold assets to no more than 60 years.

Foreigners who transfer ownership of residential condominium units, or holders of rights over leasehold assets, should receive a five-year Long Stay Visa if the price is no more than THB7 million, and a 10-year Long Stay Visa if the price is above THB7 million.