Get all the data you need about the real estate market in Phuket
SUMMARY
Yes. Russians are pushing Phuket condo prices higher now, but mainly in the foreign-oriented projects and neighborhoods where Russian demand is concentrated rather than across the entire island.
The scale is no longer marginal. Russians recently accounted for about 37% of Phuket's foreign condo transfers and roughly 44% of foreign transfer value, which is enough to influence pricing inside projects aimed heavily at international buyers.
The island-wide effect is smaller than the headlines suggest. Russians represented only around 11% of all Phuket condo transfers in the first quarter, so they are an important buyer group without being large enough to dictate the value of every condo on the island.
Russian spending is rising faster than Russian transaction volume. That means the current wave is not simply bringing more buyers into Phuket; it is also shifting toward larger, newer or more expensive properties.
Phuket is behaving very differently from Thailand's broader foreign-condo market. Foreign transfers have been falling nationally while Phuket foreign transfers have accelerated, and Russian spending has increased particularly sharply.
The price data are much less dramatic than the transaction data. Phuket already went through a substantial post-pandemic repricing, and recent island-wide figures point to expensive but comparatively slow-moving prices rather than another broad surge.
The strongest Russian pricing power is likely to appear in Bang Tao, Cherngtalay, Rawai and other areas where overseas buyers compete for the same new developments, foreign-freehold allocations, views and lifestyle locations.
The foreign ownership quota can make this effect stronger at project level. A development may still have plenty of apartments available overall while the best foreign-freehold units or layouts become scarce enough for a developer to raise prices or cut discounts.
There is also a major mix effect. New Phuket condos already sell at a large premium to older resale stock, so an increase in Russian purchases of new projects can push average transaction values higher without producing anything close to the same appreciation in an ordinary older condo.
Supply remains the biggest limit on the Russian effect. Phuket has tens of thousands of units competing for buyers, and Cherngtalay is simultaneously one of the strongest demand zones and the island's largest concentration of new inventory.
Russian demand currently provides real support to developer pricing and sales velocity, particularly while Chinese condo demand is weakening. If that Russian demand fades, incentives and resale discounts would probably worsen before headline asking prices visibly fall.
The useful conclusion is therefore narrower than "Russians are driving Phuket prices." They are increasingly capable of setting the marginal price for desirable foreign-focused units, while generic condos with plenty of substitutes remain much more exposed to Phuket's large supply pipeline.
Thinking of buying real estate in Phuket?
Acquiring property in a different country is a complex task. Don't fall into common traps – grab our guide and make better decisions.
Are Russians pushing Phuket condo prices higher now?
Are Russians really buying that many Phuket condos right now?
Yes. Russian buyers have become large enough in Phuket's foreign condo market that we can no longer treat them as a niche source of demand.
REIC's first-quarter figures show Russians buying 156 Phuket condos worth roughly THB 1.06 billion. That gave them about 37% of all foreign condo transfers on the island and roughly 44% of foreign transfer value.
Their growth is even more striking when we zoom out to Thailand. Russian buyers transferred 383 condos nationwide during the first quarter, up 33% from a year earlier, while the value of those purchases jumped 68.7% to THB 1.665 billion. Russia was the only nationality among Thailand's five biggest foreign condo buyer groups to record growth in both units and value.
The latest first-half numbers confirm that this was more than one unusually strong quarter. Russian condo transfer value across Thailand reached THB 3.603 billion, up 75.9% year on year. REIC says Phuket and Chonburi were the main destinations.
That gives the Russian wave real weight. The more interesting question is how much of Phuket's pricing it can actually move.
| Measure | Latest reading | Year-on-year change | What it tells us |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russian condo transfers, Thailand Q1 | 383 units | +33.0% | Buyer count is rising quickly |
| Russian transfer value, Thailand Q1 | THB 1.665bn | +68.7% | Spending is rising much faster |
| Russian purchases in Phuket Q1 | 156 units | — | Major local buyer group |
| Russian Phuket transfer value Q1 | THB 1.06bn | — | 44% of foreign Phuket value |
| Russian transfer value, Thailand H1 | THB 3.603bn | +75.9% | Growth continued after Q1 |
How much of Phuket's entire condo market do Russians actually represent?
Russians are powerful inside Phuket's foreign market, but they still accounted for only about 11% of all condo transfers in the first quarter.
Krungsri Research recorded 1,435 condo transfers across Phuket during the quarter. Russians bought 156 of them. That works out to 10.9%.
The picture changes dramatically once we isolate international buyers. Foreigners completed 420 condo transfers, which means Russians represented 37.1% of that group. Their share by money spent was even larger at roughly 44%.
So claims that Russians are "driving Phuket" need some qualification. An 11% share of all transactions gives one nationality meaningful influence, especially when those buyers cluster in the same developments, but it does not give Russians control over the price of every condo from Phuket Town to Bang Tao.
Their leverage becomes much stronger in projects built specifically for international buyers. A fairly modest island-wide share can become a very large share of the buyers competing for the same units.
| Q1 Phuket condos | All buyers | Foreign buyers | Russian buyers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transfers | 1,435 | 420 | 156 |
| Russian share | 10.9% of all | 37.1% of foreign | — |
| Transfer value | THB 5.2bn | ~THB 2.4bn | THB 1.06bn |
| Russian value share | ~20% of all | ~44% of foreign | — |
Don't buy the wrong property, in the wrong area of Phuket
Buying real estate is a significant investment. Don't rely solely on your intuition. Gather the right information to make the best decision.
Are Russians buying more Phuket condos, or just more expensive ones?
Both. Russian condo purchases are increasing, and Russians are also spending noticeably more per transaction.
Across Thailand, Russian transfer volume rose 33% in the first quarter while transfer value rose 68.7%. The implied average Russian purchase went from about THB 3.43 million a year earlier to THB 4.35 million, an increase of roughly 27%.
Phuket sits much higher. Dividing THB 1.06 billion by 156 transactions gives an average Russian purchase of around THB 6.8 million. The average foreign condo transferred in Phuket during the same period was about THB 5.8 million.
So Russian buyers spent roughly 17% more per Phuket condo than foreign buyers overall.
That does not mean Russians paid 17% more for an identical apartment. They may simply be choosing larger, newer or better-located condos. Still, the current Russian wave is clearly skewing toward more expensive Phuket stock.
| Average condo purchase | Approx. value |
|---|---|
| Russian buyer in Thailand, previous Q1 | THB 3.43m |
| Russian buyer in Thailand, latest Q1 | THB 4.35m |
| Foreign buyer in Phuket, latest Q1 | THB 5.8m |
| Russian buyer in Phuket, latest Q1 | THB 6.8m |
| Russian premium vs Phuket foreign average | ~17% |
Is Phuket attracting foreign condo buyers while the rest of Thailand slows down?
Yes. Phuket's foreign condo market is currently moving against a much weaker national trend.
According to Krungsri Research, foreign condo transfers in Phuket rose 18.3% in 2025 to 1,190 units, while transfer value increased 18.9% to THB 6.1 billion.
The gap became much wider in the first quarter. Phuket recorded 420 foreign condo transfers, up 52.2% year on year, and their value surged 76.2% to about THB 2.4 billion.
Across Thailand, foreign condo transfers were falling at the same time. REIC recorded a 17.3% drop in units and a 17.9% fall in value nationally during the first quarter.
The first-half update still shows foreign condo transfers nationwide down 8.8%. Russian spending, meanwhile, rose 75.9%.
That divergence is one of the strongest pieces of evidence here. Russian demand is growing fastest precisely where Phuket is already outperforming the broader foreign condo market.
Get to know the market before buying a property in Phuket
Better information leads to better decisions. Get all the data you need before investing a large amount of money.
Are Phuket condo prices actually rising right now?
Phuket condo prices remain expensive, but the latest evidence does not show a fresh island-wide price explosion.
C9 Hotelworks put Phuket's median condo asking price at around THB 144,000 per square meter in its 2025 property survey. Knight Frank had already measured average selling prices around THB 140,000 per square meter in 2024, when annual growth was just 0.59%.
Those datasets use different samples, so turning them into a single price index would be misleading. Together, though, they suggest that Phuket went through a major repricing after the pandemic and has since moved into a much slower phase.
The composition of what is being built also pushes published averages higher. C9 found branded condos averaging THB 181,000 per square meter versus THB 141,000 for non-branded units. New non-branded condos averaged THB 139,000, compared with only THB 100,000 in the secondary market.
When more THB 180,000-per-square-meter branded residences enter the sales mix, Phuket's average can rise without an older condo in the same neighborhood becoming dramatically more valuable.
Russian buyers are clearly helping expensive projects sell. The actual price data are much calmer than the Russian transaction numbers.
| Phuket condo pricing | Approx. price |
|---|---|
| Knight Frank island average, 2024 | THB 140k/sqm |
| C9 median, 2025 | THB 144k/sqm |
| C9 new non-branded condos | THB 139k/sqm |
| C9 secondary condos | THB 100k/sqm |
| C9 branded condos | THB 181k/sqm |
Where in Phuket can Russian buyers actually push condo prices higher?
Russian pricing power is strongest in the internationally oriented west-coast and southern neighborhoods where foreign buyers repeatedly compete for the same lifestyle properties.
Bang Tao and Cherngtalay are the obvious center of gravity. Rawai, Nai Harn, Kamala, Patong, Kata and Karon also attract large international populations and Russian-speaking buyers.
C9's supply map shows how concentrated Phuket development has become. Cherngtalay alone represented 54% of the condo inventory in its 2025 dataset, with more than 16,000 units. Rawai accounted for 16%, Karon 13%, Wichit 10% and Si Sunthon 7%.
Prices vary enormously between these areas and between individual projects. C9 found one-bedroom condos reaching almost THB 19.4 million in Cherngtalay, THB 15.4 million in Rawai and THB 9.1 million in Karon at the top of the market.
Russian demand clearly overlaps with Phuket's expensive lifestyle belt. But these buyers arrived in neighborhoods that already had beaches, international schools, restaurants, resorts, Laguna Phuket and limited prime land. A lot of the premium was there before the Russian wave.
The Russian effect gets strongest when a popular nationality piles into an already desirable micro-market.
Buying real estate in Phuket can be risky
An increasing number of foreign investors are showing interest. However, 90% of them will make mistakes. Avoid the pitfalls with our comprehensive guide.
Can Russians actually set the price of a Phuket condo project?
Yes, Russians can now influence pricing in individual foreign-focused Phuket projects even though they remain a minority of island-wide buyers.
Imagine a new Bang Tao condo where many of the best sea-view or one-bedroom foreign-freehold units appeal to exactly the same international buyers. If Russian clients take a large portion of those units early, the developer can move the next release to a higher price or simply stop offering discounts.
The foreign ownership quota makes this easier. Thai condominium law generally allows foreigners to own up to 49% of a project's total saleable area. A project can therefore still have plenty of unsold condos while the foreign-freehold allocation on the most popular layouts becomes hard to get.
The latest transaction mix makes this more than a hypothetical scenario. Russians supplied about 44% of Phuket's foreign condo transfer value in the first quarter.
Cushman & Wakefield Thailand's research head, Surachet Kongcheep, has also described Russian-speaking agents as unusually prominent at Phuket developer events. He said Russian agents can sometimes outnumber agents of other nationalities.
Once that sales network funnels buyers into a handful of launches, developers can gain real pricing power. Russians do not need to buy half the condos on the island for that to happen.
Are Russians simply replacing the Chinese buyers who disappeared?
Partly. Russia's boom looks much bigger when viewed alone because Chinese condo demand is shrinking at the same time.
Chinese buyers still rank first nationally, but their first-quarter condo transfers fell 38.8% to 906 units. Transfer value dropped 42.9% to THB 3.49 billion.
Russia moved in the opposite direction with 383 transactions, up 33%, and THB 1.665 billion of spending, up 68.7%.
The first-half numbers continue the split. Chinese transfer value fell 27.7%, while Russian transfer value increased 75.9%.
Some Russian purchases are therefore filling a hole left by China rather than creating completely new foreign demand. Nationally, the numbers make this obvious: foreign condo transfers still declined even with Russians buying much more.
Phuket has held up far better than Thailand overall, so the substitution is less complete there. Russian money is adding genuine strength to Phuket. But a market where one major nationality surges while another retreats will usually produce less price pressure than one where both are buying aggressively at the same time.
Don't lose money on your property in Phuket
100% of people who have lost money there have spent less than 1 hour researching the market. We have reviewed everything there is to know. Grab our guide now.
Are Russians making new Phuket condos look more expensive than the resale market?
Yes. The kind of condos Russian and other overseas buyers tend to see first already carry a huge premium over older Phuket stock.
C9 Hotelworks found new non-branded condos averaging around THB 139,000 per square meter, compared with THB 100,000 for secondary units. That is a 39% gap before we even get to branded residences, which averaged THB 181,000.
International buyers are heavily exposed to the new-build side of the market through overseas agents, developer roadshows, rental-management packages and foreign-freehold allocations.
This can distort the story around Russian demand. Suppose Russian buyers shift toward THB 7 million new condos while fewer buyers transact THB 3 million older units. Average transaction values rise even if neither condo becomes more expensive on a like-for-like basis.
Russian demand still helps developers defend those new-build prices. It just should not be confused with a 20% or 30% jump in the value of every existing Phuket apartment.
Is Phuket building too many condos for Russians to push prices much higher?
Phuket currently has too much competing supply for Russian demand to create a simple island-wide shortage.
C9 Hotelworks counted 33,704 condo units for sale across 124 active developments in early 2025. Its later Phuket real-estate forum data showed the wider primary residential market growing to more than 43,000 units, including condos and other residences.
Developers have not stopped building. CBRE recorded 3,711 condo units launched in the first half of 2025. Launch activity then cooled, but the latest CBRE figures show new condo launches jumping 44.8% from the previous half-year.
Only 1,196 units were completed during that latest period because several projects were delayed. So completed stock can still feel tight in specific locations even while a much larger pipeline is coming.
Cherngtalay illustrates both sides perfectly. It has some of Phuket's strongest foreign demand and some of its most expensive projects, but it also contains by far the island's biggest concentration of new residential inventory.
A generic condo there cannot assume Russian demand will bail out any asking price. A rare unit with the right location, view, foreign quota and project quality has much more room to rise.
| Phuket supply measure | Latest/recent reading | Price implication |
|---|---|---|
| Condos for sale in C9's 2025 survey | 33,704 units | Heavy competition |
| Active condo projects | 124 | Buyers have many choices |
| H1 2025 launches | 3,711 units | Large pipeline |
| Latest half-year launch change | +44.8% | Supply is accelerating again |
| Latest half-year completions | 1,196 units | Some near-term scarcity remains |
| Cherngtalay share of C9 condo inventory | 54% | Biggest demand area is also heavily supplied |
Get the full checklist for your due diligence in Phuket
Don't repeat the same mistakes others have made before you. Make sure everything is in order before signing your sales contract.
Is Phuket tourism strong enough to explain the condo price pressure without Russians?
No. Phuket tourism remains strong in absolute terms, but the latest tourism numbers are too flat to explain the recent jump in Russian condo spending.
CBRE's newest half-year figures show Phuket Airport passenger arrivals declining 1.4% year on year to about 4.39 million. Hotel occupancy slipped 0.8 percentage points, while average daily rates increased just 0.9%.
Those numbers describe a mature tourism market holding up reasonably well. They do not look like a fresh demand shock capable of explaining a 75.9% jump in Russian condo transfer value.
Rental demand is healthier. C9 found one-bedroom condos to be the most popular rental product, with average rents around THB 22,500 a month for longer leases and roughly THB 26,600 for shorter stays. Cherngtalay, Rawai and Patong were among the strongest rental locations.
Russian property spending is simply moving much faster than the island's tourism indicators. That makes a Russian-specific residential demand story harder to dismiss.
| Phuket demand measure | Latest/recent reading |
|---|---|
| Airport passenger arrivals | -1.4% YoY |
| Hotel occupancy | -0.8 percentage points |
| Hotel ADR | +0.9% YoY |
| Typical longer-lease 1-bed rent | ~THB 22.5k/month |
| Shorter-stay 1-bed rent | ~THB 26.6k/month |
| Russian condo transfer value, Thailand H1 | +75.9% YoY |
Could Russian demand in Phuket disappear as quickly as it arrived?
Russian demand looks more durable than a short speculative rush, although depending too heavily on one nationality still creates risk.
Phuket has developed the infrastructure of a real Russian residential community: Russian-speaking property agents, schools used by international families, restaurants, long-stay services and established communities in the island's western and southern areas.
Surachet Kongcheep of Cushman & Wakefield has compared the pattern with Jomtien, where Russian communities and Russian-speaking agents helped attract later waves of Russian property buyers. Phuket now appears to be developing the same network effect.
C9's work on Phuket also points toward more lifestyle migration and long stays among foreign buyers. That gives the market a different character from pure yield-chasing investment. Someone moving a family to Phuket cares about school access, neighborhood, beach proximity and daily life, so a slightly cheaper condo on the other side of the island may be a poor substitute.
There is still an obvious concentration risk. Banking restrictions, geopolitical changes, the ruble, travel access or Russian capital controls could all change purchasing power quickly.
For now, though, the size and persistence of the increase make Russian demand look embedded rather than temporary.
Don't sign a document you don't understand in Phuket
Buying a property over there? We have reviewed all the documents you need to know. Stay out of trouble - grab our comprehensive guide.
What happens to Phuket condo prices if Russians stop buying?
Phuket developers would probably feel a Russian pullback first through slower sales and larger discounts, especially in foreign-focused projects.
The reason is straightforward. Russians recently generated around 44% of Phuket's foreign condo transfer value. Chinese demand, which might once have filled part of that gap, has been falling sharply.
Phuket also has a large pipeline. Developers competing across tens of thousands of units would have to work harder to replace a buyer group that currently spends more per transaction than the average foreign purchaser.
Headline prices may not fall immediately. Phuket developers can protect published price lists by increasing agent commissions, throwing in furniture packages, paying transfer fees or negotiating privately with buyers.
The resale market could react faster. Owners without a developer's marketing budget have fewer ways to disguise a discount when buyers disappear.
Russian demand therefore acts as meaningful support for liquidity and pricing today. If it weakens, sales velocity and incentives would probably deteriorate before any dramatic island-wide price decline appears.
So, are Russians pushing Phuket condo prices higher now?
Yes, especially in the Phuket condo segments Russians actually buy, but the idea of a Russian-driven island-wide price boom goes too far.
The strongest evidence is hard to dismiss. Russian condo transfer value across Thailand has risen 75.9% in the latest first-half data while overall foreign transfers have fallen. Phuket is one of the two main destinations for that Russian capital. Earlier in the year, Russians already represented about 44% of Phuket's foreign condo transfer value and were spending roughly THB 6.8 million per transaction, around 17% more than the average foreign buyer on the island.
That level of demand can affect prices. It is particularly powerful in Bang Tao, Cherngtalay, Rawai and other foreign-oriented areas where Russian buyers compete for newer condos, foreign-freehold units, good views and established lifestyle locations.
The broader Phuket market gives us a different picture. More than 33,000 condo units were already for sale in C9's 2025 survey, CBRE says launches have recently accelerated again, and Phuket's newest tourism indicators are broadly flat. Current price data also look much calmer than Russian transaction growth.
So the answer is mostly true, with an important geographical and product-level limit. Russians are currently making desirable, internationally marketed Phuket condos more expensive than they would probably be without them. They are also helping developers hold prices that might otherwise need heavier discounting.
For an ordinary condo facing plenty of competing supply, Russian buyers do not have that kind of power. For the right foreign-freehold unit in a neighborhood Russians strongly want, they increasingly do.
Get fresh and reliable information about the market in Phuket
Don't base significant investment decisions on outdated data. Get updated and accurate information.
OUR METHODOLOGY
This analysis tests whether Russian demand is currently strong enough to push Phuket condo prices higher. We compare completed Russian purchases with Phuket's wider condo market, the foreign-buyer segment, recent price evidence, the type of stock being bought, competing supply, tourism conditions and changes in demand from other major foreign buyer groups.
We prioritized completed transfer data over developer marketing or anecdotal reports because transfers show purchases that actually reached completion. Unit counts and transaction values were examined together so that a rise in the number of Russian buyers could be separated from a shift toward larger or more expensive condos.
REIC data are the main source for Russian and Chinese foreign-condo transfers, including national transaction volumes and values, first-half trends and Phuket's importance as a destination for Russian buyers. Krungsri Research is used to put those Russian purchases into the context of Phuket's total and foreign condo market.
For prices, we use C9 Hotelworks and Knight Frank rather than trying to manufacture a single Phuket price index from datasets that use different samples. Their figures are used to judge the broad direction of pricing and, more importantly, the large differences between new, resale, branded and non-branded stock.
Supply is treated separately from completed inventory. C9 Hotelworks provides the broader inventory picture and the concentration of development in areas such as Cherngtalay, while CBRE's half-year research is used for launches, completions and the recent direction of the development pipeline.
We also compare Russian demand with Chinese demand because the two buyer groups are currently moving in opposite directions. That helps distinguish a genuine increase in Russian purchasing pressure from a simple change in which nationality is supplying foreign demand.
Tourism data from CBRE are used as a cross-check rather than as a direct property-price measure. If Phuket passenger arrivals, hotel occupancy and room rates were accelerating at the same pace as Russian property spending, a broader tourism boom could explain more of the housing demand. The recent figures do not show that pattern.
Project-level pricing power is treated differently from island-wide pricing. The 49% foreign-ownership ceiling under Thailand's condominium framework can make foreign-freehold units scarce inside a particular project even while the island has substantial overall inventory. That is why the analysis does not assume that Phuket-wide supply prevents individual developments from raising prices.
Key sources used for this analysis include: REIC's Q1 2026 housing and foreign condominium transfer data, REIC's H1 2026 foreign condominium transfer update, REIC's Q1 foreign-buyer market commentary, Krungsri Research's Housing in Phuket 2026, C9 Hotelworks' Phuket Property Market Update, Knight Frank Thailand's Phuket Villa & Condominium Market 2024, CBRE Thailand's H1 2026 Phuket market figures, CBRE's research on Phuket residential demand, C9 Hotelworks' research on Phuket's shift toward a residential lifestyle market, and Bangkok Post reporting on Russian condo transfers and Russian-speaking property networks in Phuket.
The final conclusion is based on several pieces of evidence lining up rather than on one headline statistic: Russians now carry substantial weight inside Phuket's foreign-buyer market, their spending is rising unusually quickly, their purchases skew toward higher-value stock, and that demand is concentrated in projects and neighborhoods where foreign buyers often compete for the same units. Phuket's large supply pipeline is then used as the main check against extending that conclusion to the whole island.
Get to know the market before buying a property in Phuket
Better information leads to better decisions. Get all the data you need before investing a large amount of money.
Related blog posts
- Is Phuket’s property boom finally slowing down?
- Are Phuket villa prices about to fall?
- Is Phuket property becoming oversupplied?
- Is Phuket property in a bubble right now?
Fact-checked and reviewed by our local expert
Attaya Suriyawonghae 🇹🇭
Real Estate Broker, Zest Real Estate
