"They are adopting a wait-and-see attitude. They are not certain if the policies will drive the economy or not and they are also waiting to see if the government launches tax measures. As a result, transactions have dropped by 20 per cent or Bt10 billion," Atip said, adding that last year transactions totalled Bt50 billion in the same period.
He said the drop would not only hurt developers but related sectors such as mortgages, construction materials, construction services, home electronics, advertising and others.
"If the government has no policy to boost the property market, it should have policies to drive the economy as a whole. The property market - with combined value of Bt200 billion a year - is important as it also helps related businesses generate revenue of nearly Bt100 billion a year," Atip said.
Due to sluggish sales, most property developers have revised down their sales targets this year by 10-30 per cent.
Metrostar Property's managing director Ratanachai Phatinavin said the company had adjusted its presales estimate from Bt3 billion this year to Bt2 billion. This will reduce its revenue from Bt1.4 billion to Bt1 billion.
The Finance Ministry is expected to temporarily cut property transfer fees as well as mortgage registration fees in an effort to boost the market.
The Revenue Department's director-general Sanit Rangnoi estimated that around Bt5 billion to Bt6 billion in revenue would be shaved off if specific business tax, a form of value-added tax levied on property companies, was reduced from 3.3 per cent to 0.11 per cent.
Another Bt600 million would disappear if the government allowed taxpayers to deduct from their taxable income the mortgage interest burden of up to Bt100,000 per annum, from Bt50,000 at present, he calculated.
Yesterday, three property associations - the Thai Condominium Association, the Thai Real Estate Association and the Housing Business Association - opened the 16th House and Condo Show, which will run until Sunday.
Around 600 property projects worth up to Bt12 billion are on show as developers seek to boost sales in the second quarter. Atip said the event organiser expected up to 100,000 visitors and sales worth up to Bt3 billion from the four-day event.
Many firms are offering discounts worth between Bt200,000 and Bt600,000.
