Location

Alan Bolton Property Consultants has been selling and letting property in Pattaya since 1978 — before most of the condo towers that make up today's inventory existed. This page is not a sales pitch. It is a straight account of what is on our books at the moment, area by area, so you can work out where your budget actually lands before you spend a week driving around Chonburi.

What is on the market right now

We currently have 2,387 live listings across Pattaya and the wider Eastern Seaboard: 1,393 available for sale and 797 available to rent. Those two numbers do not add up to the total because a good number of owners will consider either — a resale unit offered at a sale price and a monthly rent at the same time is normal here, and it gives you room to negotiate on whichever basis suits you.

By property type, the market is dominated by condominiums:

• Condos: 1,507
• Houses: 773
• Townhouses: 46
• Land: 22
• Villas: 10
• Commercial: 6

The bedroom mix tells you something about who buys and rents here. One-bedroom units are the single largest group at 727 listings, followed by 458 two-bedroom, 410 three-bedroom and 319 studios. Larger family and multi-let stock is thinner: 264 four-bedroom, 112 five-bedroom, 33 six-bedroom and a handful above that. If you need four bedrooms or more, expect a shorter shortlist and plan viewings accordingly.

Areas and median prices

These are median figures from our own live listings — the midpoint of what is being asked, not what every property costs, and not a valuation of any specific unit. Use them to sort areas by budget, then look at individual properties.

• Jomtien — 564 live listings. Median sale 4,740,000 THB, median rent 24,000 THB. The deepest pool of stock in the city and the most straightforward place to compare like with like.
• East Pattaya — 428 live listings. Median sale 9,900,000 THB, median rent 55,000 THB. House-and-garden territory rather than towers, which is why the medians sit well above the beachfront condo areas.
• Pratumnak — 377 live listings. Median sale 4,950,000 THB, median rent 25,000 THB. Central without being on Beach Road.
• Central Pattaya — 267 live listings. Median sale 4,500,000 THB, median rent 22,000 THB.
• Na Jomtien — 154 live listings. Median sale 7,404,375 THB, median rent 35,000 THB.
• Wongamat — 128 live listings. Median sale 8,000,000 THB, median rent 35,000 THB.
• South Pattaya — 127 live listings. Median sale 4,145,000 THB, median rent 18,000 THB — the lowest median rent of the eight main areas we track.
• Huay Yai — 100 live listings. Median sale 12,500,000 THB, median rent 70,000 THB. The highest medians on our books, reflecting larger plots further inland.

The gap worth noticing is between the condo-led coastal areas and the land-led ones. South Pattaya's median sale price of 4,145,000 THB and Huay Yai's 12,500,000 THB are not describing the same product — one is mostly apartments, the other mostly houses on their own land. Comparing them directly will mislead you.

Ownership: what a foreign buyer can and cannot do

Two rules shape almost every purchase decision here, and it is better to hear them early.

First, a foreign national cannot own land in Thailand freehold. That applies to every house, villa and plot on this site. Houses are bought by foreign purchasers through other structures — a registered lease of the land, or a Thai company arrangement — and you should take independent legal advice on which is appropriate for you before committing to anything.

Second, foreign freehold ownership of condominium units is capped at 49% of the total floor area of each building under Thai law. A unit inside that quota can be held in your own name freehold. A unit outside it is leasehold or company-held for a foreign buyer, which is not the same thing. Whenever you ask us about a specific condo, quota status is one of the first things we check, because it changes both the paperwork and the resale audience.

Buying to live in, or buying to let

Our books run across both. Owner-occupiers tend to weigh location, noise, lift count and how a building has been maintained over ten or fifteen years — the sort of thing you only know from having sold in the same soi repeatedly. Investors are usually working back from achievable rent, and the honest position there is that rental income in Pattaya varies with season, building, floor, view and management. We will show you what comparable units in the same development are actually let for; we will not quote you a guaranteed yield or a guaranteed capital return, and you should be wary of anyone who does.

A few live examples

To put the medians into real properties currently on our books:

• A two-bedroom, two-bathroom house in Pratumnak at 6,100,000 THB — above the Pratumnak median sale figure of 4,950,000 THB, which is typical for a house rather than a condo in that area.
• A one-bedroom condo in Pratumnak offered at 3,890,000 THB for sale or 30,000 THB per month to rent — an example of a dual-listed unit.
• A one-bedroom city-view rental at City Garden Tower, South Pattaya, at 21,000 THB per month, against a South Pattaya median rent of 18,000 THB.
• A studio with sea view in Jomtien at 16,000 THB per month, and a studio at Sunshine Beach, Na Jomtien, at 27,000 THB per month.

How to use us

We are an agency, not a developer — we do not build or own the projects listed here, which means we have no reason to steer you towards one building over another. We cover the whole of Pattaya and the Eastern Seaboard rather than a single district, and after nearly five decades the useful part of that is unglamorous: knowing which sois flood, which buildings have had sinking-fund problems, and which areas have changed character in the last ten years.

Tell us your budget, whether you are buying or renting, and how many bedrooms you need, and we will send a shortlist from the 2,387 live listings rather than a brochure. Speak to an agent or arrange a viewing and enquiries go to the agent handling that property.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best condo in Pattaya?

There isn't one answer, and any agency that gives you a single building name is selling something. We currently list 1,507 condos across Pattaya, and the right one depends on budget, area and whether you're living in it or letting it. As a starting point, median asking prices on our books run from 4,145,000 THB in South Pattaya and 4,500,000 THB in Central Pattaya up to 8,000,000 THB in Wongamat. The other decisive factor is the 49% foreign quota: a unit inside quota can be held in a foreign buyer's own name freehold, one outside it cannot. Tell us your budget and we'll check quota status on the specific buildings you're considering.

Why is it called the dark side in Pattaya?

It's a long-standing local nickname for East Pattaya, the area inland of Sukhumvit Road, and it refers to being away from the lit-up beachfront strip rather than to anything about the area itself. In property terms it is the city's main house-and-garden district rather than a condo area: we have 428 live listings there, with a median asking price of 9,900,000 THB to buy and 55,000 THB a month to rent, both well above the coastal condo areas because you are buying land and floor space rather than an apartment.

Can foreigners buy property in Pattaya?

Yes, with two limits that matter. A foreign national cannot own land in Thailand freehold, so houses, villas and plots are acquired through other structures such as a registered lease or a Thai company arrangement — take independent legal advice on which suits you. Condominium units can be owned freehold in your own name, but foreign freehold is capped at 49% of the total floor area of each building, so a unit outside that quota is leasehold or company-held for a foreign buyer, not freehold. We check quota position on any condo you ask us about.

Where are the cheapest houses and condos in Pattaya?

On current asking prices, the lowest median sale figures among the eight areas we track are South Pattaya at 4,145,000 THB, Central Pattaya at 4,500,000 THB, Jomtien at 4,740,000 THB and Pratumnak at 4,950,000 THB. South Pattaya also has the lowest median rent at 18,000 THB a month. Bear in mind those areas are condo-led, so you are comparing apartments with the houses that dominate East Pattaya (median 9,900,000 THB) and Huay Yai (median 12,500,000 THB). Cheap houses specifically are more likely to be townhouses — we have 46 live at the moment, a small pool, so be ready to move when one fits.

Who are the top 10 property developers in Thailand?

We won't rank them, because we're an agency and not a developer — we don't build or own any of the projects on this site, and staying neutral on developers is part of what makes our advice worth having. What we can do is tell you how specific buildings in Pattaya have actually held up: how a juristic person has managed the sinking fund, what resale prices have done in a given development, and how a soi has changed. That comes from transacting in this market since 1978, not from a developer league table.

Do you handle rentals as well as sales?

Yes. Of 2,387 live listings, 1,393 are available for sale and 797 are available to rent — and the totals overlap because many owners will consider either, so a unit can carry both an asking price and a monthly rent. Median rents on our books run from 18,000 THB a month in South Pattaya and 22,000 THB in Central Pattaya through 24,000 THB in Jomtien and 25,000 THB in Pratumnak, up to 55,000 THB in East Pattaya and 70,000 THB in Huay Yai.