Among major property sectors in Bangkok, the housing market has been hit hardest by the flooding as many major housing areas across the city are now submerged under water. On the other hand, there are a few property sectors that are benefiting from the flooding, Jones Lang LaSalle reports.

Residential sales to expats in Pattaya and Phuket plummeted after a Swedish television show alleged that Swedes have been swindled in property purchases.

Depending on whom you ask, Bangkok’s central business district can actually be one of numerous locations across the city. From the days when the Chao Phraya River and the city’s intricate canal network provided much of the infrastructure for commerce, to an era when residents and visitors had few alternatives to spending much of their day stuck in the notorious road traffic, the biggest influence on how the city works these days is the mass transit infrastructure, BTS skytrain and MRT underground. As a result, rather than having a single commercial heart, the city is evolving around key nodes with a blend of high density office, retail, hospitality and residential developments clustering in these areas.

According to the Real Estate Information Center (REIC), around 150,000 houses from over 1,000 projects in Greater Bangkok and Ayutthaya have been damaged by the floods, with the transfers declining by 20 per cent overall in 2011.

The Bank of Thailand is trying to help victims of the recent floods by delaying the planned implementation of the loan value ratio rule on low rise residential purchases by one year. The rule applies to low rise houses valued at less than THB10 million (US$3.2 million). The rule limits mortgage loans at 95 per cent of home value.