Last weekend's flash floods in Bangkok damaged cars and property at some condominium projects in the Sukhumvit area, but are unlikely to have a major impact on the condo market, say property experts.
Surachet Kongcheep, associate director of the research department at property consultant Colliers International Thailand, said low-rise condominiums with underground parking spaces and poor property management are unlikely to attract buyers.
"With good property management, a condominium should not face flooding from heavy rains," said Mr Surachet. "A good juristic person at a condominium project should always prepare for floods with water pump check-ups and maintenance."
He said low-rise condos or apartments of less than eight storeys mostly have car parks underground or at ground level. This characteristic means a greater risk of damage if water pumps fail to work during a flood.
Condominiums damaged by the floods last Saturday might be unattractive among resale condominium buyers for one or two years. After that, they will forget what happened and return their interest to those projects if the locations are popular, said Mr Surachet.
"People will forget in the next year or two [that condominiums were damaged by the floods], just like they did during the 2011 floods," he said. "Bang Yai, one of the locations greatly hit by the 2011 floods, is now one of the locations where people are looking for a housing unit."
Mr Surachet said that the floods last Saturday were not about the city planning, but rather the largest rainfall seen in several years. The great floods in 2011 were caused by inundation from the North, and not rain, he said.
Mr Surachet said developers that want to build low-rise condominiums should avoid underground car parks to attract buyers. Meanwhile, high-rise condominium developments should be concerned about linkages at windows to avoid leakage when there are heavy winds.
"To prevent future floods caused by poor water drainage [systems], there should be a review of regulations in environmental impact assessments to consider a suitable number of projects, even small-scale ones like low-rise condominiums on small sois or roads less than 10 metres wide," he said.
Wason Kongchantr, managing director of property consultant Modern Property Co, said greater damage from the floods last Saturday could be witnessed at older condominium projects.
"Old condominiums usually have the mechanical and electrical systems underground or at ground level. They should relocate the systems to the upper floors to avoid damage from floods," said Mr Wason.
He said new condominiums should apply lessons from the floods last Saturday and in 2011 to attract buyers, for example, well-located car parks.
Kittipol Pramoj Na Ayudhaya, executive director of the Thai Real Estate Association, said the floods in Bangkok this past weekend were caused by poor management of water drainage and sewage systems, among other factors.
"There have not been such heavy rains like those witnessed in Bangkok last Saturday for many years, and such downpours don't happen every year," he said.
