Laos’ real estate firms need to encourage investment in building apartments rather than investing in condominium projects, a regional property valuer said recently.

Thailand’s well-known property valuer and real estate researcher, Dr Sopon Pornchokchai, who is an expert in land and housing in the Asean region, Africa and South America, said Laos’ cities are small and population growth is meagre.

“Mega housing projects in Vientiane are likely to disappoint because they are not suitable for such a small city but apartment projects will boom,” he said, adding that the main buyers of apartments will be government employees and office workers.

During a recent course held for potential Lao investors, Dr Sopon said effective analytical tools should be employed to appraise real estate for investment purposes and this should be on par with international standards.

The course was co-organised by the Lao Property Valuation Sole Co Ltd and the Agency for Real Estate Affairs.

The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding to bring the Thai property valuer and lecturer to conduct training in real estate procedures and property pricing.

The course saw a number of real estate professionals, investors and developers learning about the pricing of properties with confidence prior to putting them on the market.

Estate agents, brokers, bankers, and property valuers also learnt how to value properties. VIENTIANE TIMES/ANN