After an unprecedented boom in the global property market, and in particular the holiday home market, a period of re-adjustment is bound to take place. That's what we're seeing now. The lowest point came immediately after the boom reached its climax in mid 2008, after which property prices actually fell on Phuket.

But we were fortunate by world standards; we were the last to feel the fallout from the global meltdown and one of the first to witness a recovery, albeit a gradual one. In real terms, prices fell by a small margin but if you factored in the relative strength of the Thai baht many sellers were still making comfortable gains against prices they paid as recently as one year earlier. Prices of prime and superbly located property have returned to pre-recession levels, while less desirable properties are taking longer to move and incentives or discounts usually have to be offered to make sales.

It's still a buyers’ market and there are sufficient numbers of motivated sellers around to make finding a genuine bargain a real possibility, especially if you're prepared to be flexible about what property you want to buy. We're certainly seeing the return of our 'bread and butter', the west coast condo buyer, although the demographics of the buyer profile have changed: fewer UK-based Brits and Eurozone buyers, but plenty of Singapore, Hong Kong and China based ex-pats, Australians and a pot pouri of other nationalities.

Though it's widely rumoured Russians are making sizeable inroads into the market, I and many of my colleagues in the business are yet to see them in significant numbers. Perhaps this is because they mainly go to Russian agents or simply that they only buy a certain type of property and therefore the figures are distorted.

Wealthy Russians are certainly buying some of the very high end villas on the island, witness the recent sale of a luxury villa at a price in the region of USD 24 million – an amazing figure by any standards – but compared to an average sale of say 10 to 15 million baht, this would certainly take a big, and therefore disproportionate, slice out of any pie (chart). Ironically Russians do make up a sizeable percentage of the buyers of low end properties (less than 4 million baht), particularly in Pattaya, where there's a surplus of this type of property.

The region is, of course, very strong. Singapore and Hong Kong are booming, prime Vietnam property is, for some reason, almost on a par with Phuket prices, and Malaysian hotspots are performing well but so are their economies – in fact, far outperforming the west.

Can this growth be sustained? Most pundits, and I don’t mean supreme optimists, believe so and I'm one of them. It’s not a game of roulette either; the ball is weighted favourably towards the east and Phuket is ideally positioned to take full advantage of the fantastic growth expected of the region.

With two thirds of the world’s population within seven hours flight and eager to sample the good things in life – luxuries which the westerners have enjoyed for decades – how can it fail?

Phuket is no Dubai, fuelled by speculation in an unhospitable climate and environment which, until relatively recently, was seen as a rotten posting for which huge salaries were paid. No, Phuket has always been the ultimate paradise island, often the preferred escape for Dubai ex-pats with which few locations can compete. Its future is a guaranteed success!

I first came here as a tourist almost 20 years ago and decided to make it my second home eight years ago. I've lived here since 2005 and I can’t see much to lure me away – and I'm no stranger to luxury destinations. Sometimes I miss cold weather, but a couple of weeks in the English winter soon cures me. And a cure is exactly what Phuket is to many, its climate and environment, coupled with excellent medical facilities, makes it the ideal retirement destination and whilst many Europeans have known this for years the north eastern countries are only now discovering it.

It’s not a case of whether Phuket can sustain its growth in the future, but how can it not?

David Wade is a Director of Tropical Homes Real Estate with offices in Kata Beach and Laguna Tel: 081 787 1108, 081 808 8896. Email: david@tropical-homes.net