When There Is Blood In The Streets, Buy Property

When There Is Blood In The Streets, Buy Property

Part 2

In October of last year, I published an article here on this website, titled "When There Is Blood In The Streets, Buy Property". In the article I examined the old Rothschild wisdom, and applied it to the property market here in Thailand in the aftermath of the country's worst floods in the past 50 years. Throughout history, we have learned that in the days following tragic events such as wars, natural disasters and other tragedies, there could not be a better time to buy property. Despite the panic and negative reports in the media following the floods, my thoughts at the time were that buying property would be a solid investment.

 the price of property is only going to rise in coming years

Let's take a look back and see what has happened since October of last year? In December, The Nation Newspaper reported that Land prices in Bangkok's inner areas such as Siam Square surged dramatically after the floods. According to the report, the price of land has gone up from Bt1.2 million per square wah, to as high as Bt1.4 million per square wah, a 17% percent increase. They also went on to say that there were significant increases in property value in other areas of Bangkok, such as Wireless Road and Silom and Rajdamri roads.

The Nation also reported in January of this year, that condo sales in Pattaya surged by more than 120% in 2011. In my original article published back in October, I had said that "There couldn't be a better time to invest in property in a place like Pattaya". It seems that there is evidence to suggest that these predictions have indeed come true, as all indications are that the price of property across the country has risen dramatically since last year's floods.

There is still much concern regarding the future of Bangkok, and what steps the government will put in place to prevent future floods, not only this year but in the years to come. With many people convinced that future floods will continue to plague the country's capital, there has been a significant increase in demand in other areas, such as Pattaya, Hua Hin, and even Chiang Mai in the North. With the tourism industry growing each year, and the number of annual arrivals still expected to nearly double by 2014, the price of property is only going to rise in coming years, regardless of future floods, political instability, or any other adverse situations that may arise.

So as we look back, it should not be surprising to anyone that the old Rothschild's adage proved to be true once again, there are numerous examples of fortunes being made in the aftermath of history's darkest moments. There is no greater tool to predict the future, than to carefully study the past. We have all heard the saying that "history repeats itself", in this case we can suggest that the increase in property value after last years flood is much the same as what we witnessed in Phuket back in 2004, as land prices have roughly doubled since the tragedy occurred. As we look ahead, we all wonder what the future might have in store for us .. well I will go out on a limb, and say that it is going to be a lot like the past.