COVID-19 has severely impacted home and condo purchasing power. Sena reveals its real estate business direction during this storm, ready to adjust business strategies every second to cope with unexpected situations. They announced the postponement of four new project launches originally scheduled for Q3/2021, waiting to reassess the situation.

            Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kessara Thanyalakphak, Managing Director of Sena Development Public Company Limited, stated that this wave of COVID-19 has posed significant challenges for the business. The company must adapt its strategies to align with the situation, as the current outbreak has affected many aspects, making it more difficult to launch new projects. Therefore, they have decided to postpone the launch of four new projects that were originally set for August-September.

            Sena will continue to focus on launching new condos targeting the affordable segment, specifically the “Sena Kit” brand, which aligns with customer demand and has been performing well in sales. Additionally, Sena is also focusing on horizontal projects based on current customer demand.

            Although the overall business situation is not very promising, and in the first half of the year, sales reached only over 3 billion baht, Sena remains committed to working diligently during this COVID-19 situation. They still aim for a sales target of 11 billion baht this year, believing that if the COVID-19 situation improves clearly by late August-September 2021, they expect to see a significant recovery in sales from the accelerated launch of new projects before the year ends.

            The transfer target is still set at 10 billion baht, as some customers are concerned about the COVID-19 situation and have delayed their transfers. Currently, the company has a sales backlog valued at 8 billion baht and expects to recognize revenue of about 5 billion baht in the second half of the year.

            Given the uncertain COVID-19 situation in the country, businesses must be ready to adjust their plans continuously. This year has seen a severe outbreak, and the control measures may take a long time due to the rising number of infections daily. If COVID-19 extends into Q4, it could impact the company's sales and transfer targets for this year. Therefore, it is essential to keep monitoring the situation.

          Nevertheless, the COVID-19 crisis has significantly affected the real estate sector this year, encountering negative factors across the board, including lockdown measures impacting the entire supply chain, economic conditions, purchasing power, and consumer confidence indices shrinking. This has led operators to be cautious in marketing and even in launching new projects in the remaining time. However, it is expected that the recovery of the real estate sector will gradually resume in 2022 onwards if the COVID-19 situation can be clearly resolved by the end of this year. The increasing availability of COVID-19 vaccines in the country will help the overall economy recover. The reopening of cities will enable the domestic economy to move forward, and people will start returning to work with increased income, positively impacting the real estate sector in the future.