Buying a house or condo in Phuket as a foreigner

Foreigners can buy a condo on Phuket freehold within the 49 % foreign quota; a house or villa is bought through a registered land lease of up to 30 years, often with a superficies right on the house, or through a Thai company with real Thai shareholders. According to the Real Estate Information Center, foreigners bought 1,190 condo units on Phuket worth 6.09 billion baht in 2025. In our catalogue, one-bedroom units at The Title Sierra start at 3.13 million baht and villas at The Title Villa Kirara start at 29 million baht. On hillside plots, check height, slope, title and permits before anything else.

Most buyers who ask us about Phuket come with a picture: a villa on a hill with a sea view. It can be a good purchase. But on Phuket the land deserves more attention than the view, and the law treats a villa very differently from a condo. Here is what to know.

The Phuket market in 2026

Smaller in number, bigger in money. In 2025 foreigners bought 1,190 condo units on Phuket worth 6.09 billion baht, according to the Real Estate Information Center (REIC) – fewer units than in Pattaya's province, but at higher prices. In the first quarter of 2026, Phuket showed the fastest growth in the value of foreign purchases: 420 units worth 2.43 billion baht.

A large supply. According to the research company AREA, quoted by The Nation in September 2026, Phuket had 90,597 units on the market worth 705 billion baht, in 806 projects, with an average price for new units of 12.8 million baht. About 85 % of units in these projects were already sold.

Higher prices than Pattaya. The crowd-sourced site Numbeo (6 November 2026) puts the price per square metre in central Phuket at about 143,600 baht, against about 94,000 in Pattaya. Treat it as orientation only.

Tourism drives rental demand. In the first half of 2025, Phuket received 4.46 million visitors, with hotel occupancy at 79.5 %, according to CBRE. But remember: renting a condo for less than 30 days without a hotel licence is illegal – count income on monthly rents.

Where to buy on Phuket

Bang Tao and Cherng Talay on the west coast – the most expensive area, with an international crowd, beach clubs and premium villas; families with school-age children like it, but the morning traffic is heavy. According to one market report, about 39 % of the units on sale on Phuket are here.

Kamala, Kata and Karon – resort beaches with condos close to the sea.

Rawai, Nai Harn and Chalong in the south – popular for a calmer life, but there is a lot of new construction and traffic now.

Inland – Thalang and Pasak – where family buyers are moving, closer to international schools.

More detail is in our Phuket area guide.

How much does property cost on Phuket?

Prices in our catalogue, from the latest price lists:

A unit in the foreign quota often costs more: at The Title Sierra the freehold premium is about 8,600 dollars. We confirm the current price and free units for each project on the day. All projects are on the Phuket page.

Hillside plots and landslides

This is the part of Phuket that needs the most care.

Hillside rules. A decision published in the Royal Gazette on 13 December 2024 (in force from 14 December) lifted the ban on building above 80 metres in some zones of Phuket, allowing single houses up to 140 metres only on plots with titles issued before 2017, up to 6 metres high and 90 m², with 70 % green cover; on slopes of 35–50 % a house may be up to 80 m². Some 2026 sources still describe the old ban as in force, so the current rules are checked by zone for each plot.

"Flying" land documents. There have been cases on Phuket where a land document for one plot was used to claim another plot further up a slope; in one case the site was 90 metres above sea level on a gradient steeper than 35 %, where no construction was allowed, and the works were stopped.

Landslides and flash floods. In August 2024 a landslide in the Kata area killed 13 people; in October 2026 there were new floods and landslides, and the authorities have named 49 danger spots on the island.

So a villa "high on the hill with a sea view" needs four checks before any deposit: the height, the slope, the type of land title and the building permit.

Buying a villa on Phuket

On Phuket the villa market is bigger and pricier than anywhere else in Thailand, and most villas sold to foreigners combine a 30-year land lease with a superficies right on the house. Two Phuket-specific points: many villas are sold off-plan, which is exactly when that structure has to be set up – before the house is built – and many plots are on slopes, so the land checks in the section above come first. How each land right works, and its risks, is in Can foreigners buy property in Thailand.

Nominee companies – "the Thai director is just a formality" – are illegal. In 2026 the authorities checked 89 plots in Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi on suspicion of nominee ownership, and many villa buyers on Phuket put their plans on hold.

On Phuket we ask for the plot's height above sea level and its gradient in writing, next to the title deed. A sea view from 90 metres up looks the same on a photo as a view from 40 – the rules for building there do not.

How buying works on Phuket

The steps are the same everywhere in Thailand: a building registered as a condominium, a checked developer and open foreign quota, a reservation on the standard form, a contract read by your lawyer, money from abroad in foreign currency with a bank confirmation, and registration at the Phuket provincial Land Office. Each step is explained in Buying property in Thailand.

Phuket or Pattaya?

Choose Phuket for a villa, beaches on your doorstep and a resort lifestyle, and be ready for a higher budget and stricter land checks; for a city condo at a lower price per square metre, look at Pattaya. Our side-by-side comparison is in Pattaya or Phuket.

• For a villa: land title, owner, mortgage, height, slope and building permit – before a deposit.
• A registered land lease plus superficies on the house, set up before construction.
• For a condo: condominium registration and open foreign quota, in writing.
• Ask how the road and the plot behave in heavy rain.
• Plan rental income around the high season, but on monthly leases – nightly lets need a hotel licence.
• For an off-plan villa: the building permit and the superficies registered before construction starts.

FAQ