The country's largest developer, Land & Houses Plc (LH), has launched a new website to attract first-home buyers and promote its lower- to medium-priced housing projects with sales target of 580 units by the end of the year.

My1sthome.in.th is designed for people aged 25-35 years, single or married, who are looking for property information online and have a budget of 3-5 million baht, said Suparat Veerakul, the LH vice-president for corporate communications.

A company survey indicated that first-time buyers accounted for 60% of total housing demand.

''They [first-home buyers] don't know how to prepare to buy a house, how to make a financial plan. Our website will be an adviser to provide all housing-related information,'' she said.

LH will also promote its 19 housing projects in the lower- to medium-priced segment from a total of 32 projects via the new website. They include 12 single-housing estates, four townhome projects and three condominiums, all with prices from 3-5 million baht a unit.

The company is also preparing to develop a new condominium brand near current mass-transit routes with prices below two million baht a unit.''Online marketing requires a lower budget but creates greater impact on sales than traditional advertisements,'' said Ms Suparat.

The company aims to sell 580 units priced between three million and four million baht via online marketing, up from 533 units worth 2.4 billion baht last year from customers who visited its websites before visiting project sites.

Sales last year from online marketing accounted for 13% of LH's total sales of 19 billion baht.

''Any internet user who applies for a my1sthome website membership and plans to buy one of our units will get a special interest rate from LH Bank as well,'' Ms Suparat said.

Meanwhile, LH is keeping its eight-year-old homedd.com website, which a foreign investor wanted to acquire, as another strategic channel for online marketing.

LH shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 8.60 baht, down 35 satang, in trade worth 623.3 million baht.