Kanda Property has strategized to brace for new investments in 2024 by launching one project while focusing on marketing 18 ready-to-sell projects, aiming for sales of 2.8 billion baht and revenue of 2 billion baht, alongside advancing the Eco Smart concept with a promotion to provide solar panels for every home.

Mr. Hatsakorn Boonyang, Managing Director of Kanda Property Co., Ltd., revealed that the housing market situation in 2024 remains sluggish due to the overall economy not recovering, affecting consumer confidence in purchasing high-value real estate. At the same time, consumer purchasing power has significantly weakened due to high household debt and continuously rising interest rates over the past year, which has notably reduced consumers' ability to secure loans.

Given this situation, the company's business operations this year will focus on a defensive strategy, with only one small new project being launched: the iLeaf Biz Rama 2 Km. 14, a three-story commercial building, while concentrating on marketing the 18 ongoing projects with a total sales value of 10 billion baht, which include:

1. iLeaf Prime Ram Inthra-Khubon 2. iLeaf Prime Rama 2 Km. 14 3. iLeaf Prime 2 Rama 2 Km. 14 4. iLeaf Proud Rama 2 Km. 14 5. iLeaf Biz Rama 2 Km. 14 6. iLeaf Prime Pracha Uthit 90 7. iLeaf Prime 2 Pracha Uthit 90 8. iLeaf Town Setthakij-Bangpla 9. iLeaf Prime Setthakij-Bangpla

10. iLeaf Town Ratchaphruek-Kanchanaphisek 11. iLeaf Prime Ring Road-Rangsit Klong 4 12. iLeaf Proud Ring Road-Rangsit Klong 4 13. iLeaf Prime Lam Luk Ka-Klong 2 14. Kanda Place Ring Road Lam Luk Ka Klong 6 15. iLeaf Town Theparak-Bang Bo 16. iLeaf Park Theparak-Bang Bo 17. iLeaf Prime Pattaya-Jomtien 18. iLeaf Prime 2 (Thalang) Phuket

“Kanda Property's business strategy this year will not involve additional investments or land purchases, focusing instead on the 18 existing projects to generate revenue for 2024, with a sales target of 2.8 billion baht and a revenue target of 2 billion baht, which is equivalent to the sales and revenue figures of 2023. New project investments will wait for the economy to recover, with an expectation of launching about three new projects in 2025,” Mr. Hatsakorn stated.

Meanwhile, the company continues to emphasize project development under the 5 Kanda Concept, which includes 1. Multi-Generation, focusing on family cohabitation 2. Easy Maintenance, designed for easy upkeep 3. Eco Smart, environmentally friendly 4. Flood Protection, ensuring flood prevention in every project 5. Space Matter, prioritizing the design of all usable spaces.

This year, the concept the company aims to enhance for customer benefit is Eco Smart by installing solar panels for customers to reduce electricity usage, lower energy consumption, and alleviate cost burdens.

“Currently, everyone is aware of environmental conservation. On a global scale, we are facing climate change issues, with campaigns to reduce global warming and carbon emissions. The company has absorbed various environmental conservation aspects into project development under the Eco Smart concept, which has been ongoing for over 10 years, aiming for more Eco-friendly project development and striving towards Net Zero to contribute more to the planet.

Starting with simple, cost-free initiatives like waste segregation and using eco-friendly materials, to employing LED lighting throughout homes that can reduce energy consumption by over 50%, using green glass to cut heat, installing exhaust fans to reduce heat, and utilizing solar power in cost-effective areas such as public parks and common spaces.

The latest initiative is installing solar panels for every home, marking another step in the Eco Smart concept that will help reduce electricity costs and energy consumption. Based on sales estimates over four years from 2024 to 2027, the company anticipates installing a total of 9,600 kilowatts of solar panels, which can generate approximately 19,710,000 kilowatts of electricity, equating to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 8,652,480 kilograms of CO2, or the equivalent of planting 969,000 trees,” Mr. Hatsakorn added.

Additionally, the features of the company's homes, including single-family homes, duplexes, and townhomes, continue to stand out with more usable space, organized under the Space Matter concept that values every usable area in the home. All types of homes will have four bedrooms, including a ground-floor bedroom for the elderly that is functional and adaptable to customers' lifestyles, along with privacy considerations by including a private bathroom for the master bedroom, ensuring that nearly all of the company's townhomes will have four bedrooms and three bathrooms (with an en-suite bathroom in the master bedroom) starting at a price of 1.99 million baht.

“The company believes that the quality of life requiring privacy does not necessarily mean one must live in a single-family or duplex home to achieve that. With a budget of around 2 million baht, one can purchase a four-bedroom, three-bathroom townhome that offers a quality of life comparable to that of a single-family or duplex home, which is the core principle of the company in developing products and designing functions that truly meet living needs,” he concluded.

Mr. Hatsakorn further stated that competition in the housing market from the first to the second quarter of 2024 is intense, prompting the company to continuously launch promotions, resulting in sales from the beginning of the year, especially in January and February, being the highest in the past three years, with sales growing by 20% compared to the first quarter of last year. However, this sales growth is not due to an overall market improvement but rather because every company is offering promotions to stimulate sales.

Meanwhile, measures to stimulate the real estate sector by reducing transfer fees from 2% and mortgage fees from 1% to 0.01% each, along with raising the housing price ceiling from 3 million baht to 7 million baht, may help create some demand for housing this year. However, the ongoing issue of increased loan rejections remains a significant obstacle that, if addressed by the government, would greatly benefit the housing market.

“The desire to own a home has not diminished. The government's stimulus for the real estate business through reduced transfer and mortgage fees is an encouragement for the housing sector, but the problem of loan rejections is another factor that undermines this stimulation. If there is a possibility for the government to support easier loan approvals, it would greatly benefit the real estate sector and the overall economy of the country,” Mr. Hatsakorn concluded.