Property consultant JLL Thailand expects to sustain its growth in 2025, building on a 30% increase in 2024, the largest in five years, driven by hotel transactions, land deals, property management and consultancy services.
Michael Glancy, managing director for Thailand and Indonesia, said the company expects double-digit growth next year, with 2024 trends in the commercial real estate market likely to carry forward.
"Land sales in the industrial sector are booming, driven by the China + One policy, which helped industrial property developers achieve record-breaking results this year," he said. "This momentum will continue in 2025."
The data centre sector is also expanding rapidly, not only in Thailand but across Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, where internet penetration rates are exceptionally high.
Demand for data centre services is set to grow further, positioning Thailand as a potential digital hub, bolstered by government policies such as the Cloud First Policy and long-term investment incentives from the Board of Investment.
Thailand has 39 data centres, trailing Indonesia with 79 and Malaysia with 55. As the digital economy continues to surge and technological advancements accelerate, Thailand has significant potential for expansion in this sector, said Mr Glancy.
JLL's most notable achievement this year was advising on the sale of the Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit, a luxury hotel located near Sukhumvit Soi 13 in the Nana area.
The transaction, completed earlier this month for 5.05 billion baht, set a record as Thailand's largest-ever single hotel asset.
Other hotel transactions JLL advised on this year included the sale of Lamai Samui Resort & Spa, Hilton Garden Inn Phuket Bangtao, and a portfolio of five serviced apartments with over 1,800 keys.
JLL's property management services delivered a robust performance in 2024, adding approximately 600,000 square metres of new space under management, including the new high-end mixed-use development One Bangkok.
This expansion increased JLL's total managed space to 7.5 million sq m, up from 6.9 million sq m in 2023.
Of this total, office spaces accounted for 80%, securing JLL's position as the market leader with a dominant share exceeding 50%.
"Our strategy is to cope with key trends that are transforming the global commercial real estate market, which will also have a significant impact on the evolution of the real estate industry in Thailand," Mr Glancy said.
At the forefront is sustainability, which is now central to every discussion and decision-making process within the industry, as well as the future of work, technology and data analytics.
This year, JLL started covering four new services: energy and sustainability, workplace strategy and change management, asset enhancement and lease renewal, and tech advisory.
Next year, the company plans to launch JLL GPT 2.0, an advanced version of the first large language model, human-led, artificial intelligence-powered, purpose-built technology designed specifically for the commercial real estate industry.
"The current version helps us increase productivity across various operational processes. Some tasks that previously took six hours can now be completed in just 15 minutes," said Mr Glancy. "The new version will enhance our ability to perform more advanced analyses."