Ensign Media who publish Property Report Magazine and are behind the Thailand Property Awards and other regional real estate awards are gushing over villas.
The Asia Villa Awards which will be held in Phuket later this year feature single properties and are mainly geared to the Thailand rental market.
Next year will see a similar set rolled out in Indonesia's Bali.
Entries are open to the August.
For more details <link>http://www.asiavillaawards.com/*CLICK</link>
This year's gala Thailand Property Awards ceremony will be held on September 11th at the Conrad Bangkok Hotel.
The awards are part of Ensign Media and Property Report magazine's acknowledgment of the year's best real estate developments in the Kingdom.
C9 Hotelworks Bill Barnett is a national judge for the event and will present on of the awards.
One key feature of this year's event is that they are more focused on development and the broker category awards have been discarded.
Foreign businesses in Indonesia have sighed collectively over news that Joko Widodo has been declared a winner in the hotly contested Presidential elections.
Nationalist Prabowo Subianto has bowed in defeat despite a ramped up effort in closing moments of the recently concluded campaign.
Jokowi's platform that embraced reforms has also indicated plans to review the possibility of foreign land ownership and he is viewed more favorably by the international investment community versus Prabowo.
One key issue on the table for the country's domestic sector is the highly toxic fuel subsidy that has to be addressed by the incoming administration.
According to news in the Phuket Gazette, the government is looking at the possibility of creating a second bypass road to ease island traffic woes.
The proposed road would start near the Heroines Monument and connect though to Kathu near the British International School and on through the Loch Palms area.
Creating new feeder roads aside from primary roadways seemingly make a great deal of sense.
As Kathu and Patong are starting to merge an amalgamated urban area, hopefully the plan will see the light of day.
Making the news is a forecast that has Manila set to be the world's second largest urban area in the world by 2025 with an estimated population of 30 million.
Tokyo will retain the top position.
In the lead up to the date, the country is expected to breach the 100 million marker and will eventually see it become number 12 in the world in terms of total population.
Traffic and poverty issues remain key challenges for the Philippines though a rising middle class is creating strong economic growth in the country's real estate sector.
This week news became public that the Allamanda Laguna Phuket condo hotel operation is planning to cease operations at the end of July.
The property is one of the island's earliest hospitality led residential projects and has operated for close to two decades.
Originally Allamanda came under the management arm of the Banyan Tree resort, though eventually it became a Best Western franchise and more recently was an independent entity.
Early purchasers of the units consisted of both end users and investment type buyers, with many looking for recurring yields under a resort-style set up.
For some owners now, they will be unfortunately left on their own to seek out rentals either directly or through agents.
Reflecting on the situation at a time when hotel branded residences increasingly coming into the marketplace, it's a prudent reminder to potential purchasers that the hotel managed unit they are buying today may not always be a viable investment in the long term.
Here in Thailand issues over difficulty in obtaining hotel licenses for real estate led projects and the potential inability to ensure a certain brand or management can be secured in a condominium structure over the expected lifetime of the property create a certain element of risk.
Investors need to be fully aware of the long-term implications of hotel branded residences and while a good number are well-operated properties, there remains the flip side of the coin as well with possible downside.
The nearby Malaysian destination of Penang is planning a new mega island expansion.
Developed by Eastern and Oriental, the two-phase project will see the creation of a new 308-hectare island,
Named Seri Tanjung Pinang, the two-phase project is aimed at offering residential elements, a marina and retail components.
Much of the focus of the long-term 20-year plan is to attract Singaporean property buyers.
Global hotel chain ACCOR has signed a deal with the Tulip Group in Pattaya for a 120-room MGallery hotel according to online news source DDproperty.
An opening for the hotel is anticipated in the first part of 2015.
The mixed use development includes 300 residential units which form part of the Waterfront Suites and Residences.
Tulip has worked with other hotel operators on Pattaya projects including Centrara and Golden Tulip.
The Absolute Twin Sands Resort Phase 3 has been launched into the Phuket real estate market.
Sales in the first two phases has seen strong demand and a sell out.
According to the developers a recent Hong Kong event sold 20% of the new inventory.
Key to the offering is the entry pricing point of THB3.3 million for a 34 square meter units.
Phase 3 consists of 78 units.
