Should I buy or rent a condo in Chiang Mai if I'm staying for 5 years?

Rent as the market is saturated with empty condos especially in Bangkok and surrounding areas there is crash coming in housing market so hold on to your money not time to bye yet

What do you want to do with the property afterwards? Here in the condo next to Central in Chiang Mai, half of it stands empty, the rental market is completely oversaturated, construction projects are abandoned unfinished because the developer goes bankrupt…

Nah, forget it. With the low rents here, I’d rather keep the freedom to live here today and there tomorrow!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Rent. The multiplier is not 5x or 10x for a condo purchase 😅. Have you seen some of the newer buildings starting at 6-10m baht for 1 bedroom, no thank you

Your visa has no affect on whether or not you can own property here.

However, do not buy a condo you haven't stayed in first. Most Thai developers don't really focus on quality and long term sustainability, but on flashy exteriors and cutting costs. Renting is also safer, since the property market in Thailand is suffering from an overabundance of empty units just wasting away, with owners refusing to lower the prices to sell/rent.

But if you really want to buy, stay in a condo for a year. Get to know the building and ask your neighbors who bought what they think, before you buy a place yourself.

Rental yields are generally kinda bad in Thailand and despite being an oversupply of housing (Generally) they still keep building more newbuilds, so I woulnd't buy. Plus, consider that you are a foreigner so it's unlikely you will find a great deal (more like the other way around). Fertility rate in Thailand is also in the gutter, so I don't see demand picking up long term. I think you'll be better off renting and investing the money somewhere else.

The property market is in free fall in Thailand atm.

Its a gamble either way .

Just rent, unless you want to stay forever

Rent because you will end up paying a farang price, basically far too high. Rent gives options. 🤦🏻‍♀️

If I planned to stay in Chiang Mai for 5 years, I would try to find a short term rental so I could move south for the 4 months where the air is unbreathable.