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HCMC bans Airbnb-like short-term lease of residential apartments
Apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

HCMC has banned apartment owners from leasing their properties for short durations as it seeks to stop unauthorized Airbnb-like services.
Only businesses licensed to operate tourism services could hereafter lease their units for short durations, it said without spelling out what it means by “short.”

With the number of apartment towers soaring in recent years in Vietnam’s biggest city, many owners lease their properties exclusively to short-term renters.

They often take advantage of accommodation apps such as Airbnb and social media groups to connect with customers, and their incomes are mostly untaxed.

The popularity of Airbnb-like services has resulted in conflicts between short-term tenants and long-term residents, who complain about guests making noise late at night and their lack of cleanliness.

Many residents are also upset at having to share facilities such as elevators, gyms and pools with renters, some of whom also indulge in illegal activities such as gambling and drug use.

The Housing Law does prohibit leasing out apartments for short durations, but the ban is usually ignored due to the lack of oversight, analysts have said. (source: e.vnexpress)

March 5, 2025 / by / in
Hanoi apartment price 25% lower than HCMC’s

An average apartment in Hanoi costs nearly 25% lower than one in HCMC, a new report has found.
The average apartment price in Hanoi rose 35% last year to VND72 million (US$2,821.31) per square meter, a new peak, according to market research firm Knight Frank.

The capital welcomed 27,300 new apartments available for sale, triple that of 2023. 98% of them were bought.

The southern metropolis of HCMC, however, saw a more modest number in new supply.

4,900 apartments were available for sale, with 63% of them bought.

Average price went up 12% to VND90 million, or 25% higher than Hanoi.

In recent years the gap between Hanoi and HCMC apartment price has been narrowing as demand in the capital jumps quickly.

Cao Thi Thanh Huong, senior research manager at property consultancy Savills, said that Hanoi apartment prices have traditionally been lower than those of HCMC, and the shortage of supply has pushed up average prices in the capital.

Son Hoang, deputy director of consulting and valuation at Knight Frank Vietnam, said that HCMC is forecast to have 8,600 new apartments for sale this year and 15,400 next year.

Hanoi, meanwhile, will see a stronger supply with 20,000 units annually, he said.

Prices are expected to rise 6-8% in HCMC and 5% in Hanoi this year, he added.
(source: e.vnexpress.net)

February 25, 2025 / by / in
Housing supply in 2024 exceeds 86,900 units.

Selling prices increasing 3-10%.

Total primary supply of houses to the market in Vietnam reached 86,971 units in 2024, marking a strong increase of 84% compared to the previous year, according to the latest report on the Vietnamese real estate market released recently by Dat Xanh Services.

Of which, new supply was estimated at around 53,200, including 32,500, 7,100 and 13,100 units in the northern, central and southern regions, respectively.

The average absorption rate was estimated at 30-35%, up 125% year-on-year. The northern region recorded the highest absorption rate of 45-50%, followed by the southern region with 25-30% and the central region 20-25%.

Selling prices of most of product types increased 3-10% last year, particularly selling prices of apartments. Selling prices of apartments in Hanoi and neighboring localities posted a year-on-year rise of 40-55% while those in Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring localities surged 10-20%.
(source: en.vneconomy)

January 14, 2025 / by / in
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January 13, 2025 / by / in
Five trends identified for real estate market in 2021

While 2020 is believed to have changed the real estate industry, trends in the sector this year are forecast to sustain or be aligned with demand in the market.

Real estate market in 2021

Hanoi – While 2020 is believed to have changed the real estate industry, trends in the sector this year are forecast to sustain or be aligned with demand in the market.

Trang Bui, a senior director at JLL Vietnam, said one of the five main trends in 2021 is “city in the city” and “integrated real estate”, which are popular in large-scale projects.

Vietnam’s property market is becoming more mature, with buyers increasingly interested in a healthy and sustainable living environment rather than simply a place to live.

To attract buyers, developers are, therefore, building residential areas with a range of facilities to help future residents steer clear of problems caused by rapid urbanisation and outdated public infrastructure.

A plus in any large-scale project is the ability to provide different types of housing for many potential groups of buyers, Trang said.

The second trend is the result of a shift to working from home, fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has changed the face of office property.

Country Director of JLL Vietnam Paul Fisher said the trial of work-from-home policy around the world has shown that technology will continue to be helpful to businesses’ operations.

The lack of direct contact has inadvertently created more working pressure, so some people still want to apply a flexible working approach in the future. However, he noted, offices will still be the centre of business activities.

According to JLL specialists, another trend is the growth of logistics and storage infrastructure, driven by e-commerce.

They noted that Vietnam is now one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets in Southeast Asia. Amid the pandemic, more and more consumers have opted to shop online, raising demand for cold storage warehousing for food and other essential goods.

E-commerce needs storage space three times larger than that of traditional logistics activities, which also helps boost demand for industrial real estate around the world.

Businesses’ shift to “green” and sustainable activities will be the fourth trend leading the property market in 2021, JLL noted, adding that buildings with high ESG (environmental, social, and governance) ratings may see their rentals rise by up to 33 percent compared to those without similar “green” certification.

Specialists also expect the property sector to play an important role in creating a less polluted environment, to help society build a sustainable future.

The fifth trend in the market will be investors’ increased attention on the healthcare sector amid the pandemic crisis.

Both domestic and foreign investors have targeted healthcare logistics, and they will need more refrigerated warehouses near their clients to meet the rising demand for temperature-sensitive products like cosmetics, food, medicine, and, especially, COVID-19 vaccines and other vaccines in the future, JLL predicted.

Source: VNA

January 25, 2021 / by / in
Satellite cities becoming new frontier for real estate

Limited land and slow approval procedures are causing a fall in real estate supply in the country’s major cities, with developers instead flocking to satellite cities both north and south.

Satellite cities becoming new frontier for real estate

On January 10, more than 1,000 buyers participated in the launch ceremony of Bien Hoa Universe Complex, located in Bien Hoa city of Dong Nai province. And just a few weeks previously, more than 600 villas and detached houses in the first phase of the Waterpoint project from Nam Long Corporation in Long An province were handed over to customers.

Minh Hoang, an investor in Hanoi, told VIR that profit potential in cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City is not as high as before, and so other provinces like Dong Nai and Long An are getting in on the real estate action.

“Moving to satellite cities would be a good choice for many private investors. This field of investment is now at the beginning step and the room for growth remains very strong,” Hoang said.

Angus Liew, general director of Gamuda Land in Ho Chi Minh City, expressed that land funds inside the city has been limited, especial for areas large enough to set up townships. “We now have to work with some companies to try and find new land suitable for us to develop a township,” Liew said.

Improvements in the infrastructure system are also helping satellite and neighbouring towns increase their attraction for major property developments.

“We are considering neighbouring and satellite provinces such as Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Long An in the south; and Hung Yen, Haiphong, and Phu Tho in the north. All of those are offering very good opportunities for large-scale real estate projects,” Liew said.

Domestic developers meanwhile have already jumped into the game. Phu Dong Group is preparing to launch a range of projects. First is Phu Gia Residences located in the heart of Nhon Trach district in Dong Nai. This project will offer more than 260 products to the market in the first quarter of this year.

In Long An province, Thang Loi Group has just open for sale its Sol City in Can Giuoc district, located over a space of 130 hectares. Long An is also the location of many other projects such as Long Cang Riverpark, invested in by Phuc Land Real Estate Company, and West Lakes Golf & Villas, funded by Tran Anh Group.

Along with that, large-scale developers such as Novaland, Van Phuc Group, Dat Xanh Group, and Phat Dat Corporation have already been investing in satellite cities for some time.

Promising trends

In 2020, the real estate market in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi experienced a difficult period due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition with increasing land prices and slow approval processes for projects by local authorities.

Based on current conditions, experts said that the real estate market in neighbouring provinces of Ho Chi Minh City will rise, becoming a stronger investment attraction in the coming years.

According to economist Le Ba Chi Nhan, the improvement of infrastructure between Ho Chi Minh City and neighbouring provinces in recent years has greatly helped developers explore new options.

“Setting up real estate projects in satellite cities will create competitive products for a market which is in serious lack of supply and push up the growth of the whole area,” Nhan said.

From the perspective of buyers, living in modern urban areas of satellite cities is also becoming a trend – somewhere they can improve their living standards with much better environments and more agreeable population densities.

Dang Hung Vo, former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, acknowledged that the trend of investing in real estate projects in satellite cities and provinces is a given. “Once inner-city land funds become unavailable, it is inevitable that real estate developers move to the surrounding areas. As for end-users, when infrastructure develops and roads are convenient, living in neighbouring urban areas is a very good choice,” Vo said.

Potential hotspots

According to an expert from domestic property website batdongsan.com.vn, buyers and investors are paying much interest to the six northern cities and provinces of Quang Ninh, Haiphong, Bac Ninh, Hoa Binh, Hung Yen, and Vinh Phuc. In the south, seven provinces are most hunted in particular – Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Long An, Binh Phuoc, Can Tho, and Kien Giang.

Among those, Binh Duong is the hottest destination as its population shot up 200 per cent over the last decade, the highest percentage in Vietnam. Figures show that around 44 per cent of local residents in Binh Duong lease homes and do not own a private home.

However, not every market is a safe destination as more and more developers enter. Poorly-planned development could bring oversupply and those destinations could become “death projects” if they cannot attract residences to live in.

According to Nguyen Tran Nam, chairman of the Vietnam Real Estate Association, to make those projects become fruitful, developers must know how to attract residents to come and live in them.

“In order to do that, developers must create enough facilities and a good infrastructure system then residents would come. They must not make many promises to buyers which they later fail to meet,” Nam said.

Moreover, developers are advised to get to grips with the special advantages each province can offer.

“Coastal provinces always have more advantages thanks to natural incentives to develop tourism, while delta provinces with good a infrastructure system would be reserved for the second-home segment. Industrial development hubs meanwhile should be reserved for developing mid- and lower-end houses for workers,” Nam said.

He also warned that buyers should think twice about a new development model known as a “farmstay”, which has appeared in satellite provinces in recent years. “Land for farmstays is all agriculture land, which can be used only for farming. If buyers invest in this model, their capital investment would be kept for long time and they would face difficulties when investments cannot be recycled,” Nam added. ( source: vir.com.vn)

January 21, 2021 / by / in
Developers struggle to sell high-end apartments in HCMC
Apartment buildings in District 2, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

The number of high-end apartments remaining unsold in HCMC soared by 74 percent year-on-year in the last quarter of 2020 as demand slumped.

Only 5,007 were sold in the quarter, according to real estate consultancy CBRE. Nearly 6,700 units at six projects had entered the market in the period. Overall new apartment supply topped 17,200 units.

The high-end segment, with prices of $2,000-4,000 per square meter, accounted for 76 percent of the country’s total apartment supply.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA), the oversupply of high-end apartments is causing concern by making the real estate market unsustainable.

According to its chairman, Le Hoang Chau, some developers registered their projects with the Department of Construction with low prices but later hiked them to high-end levels to increase their profits.

The excessive supply of high-end apartments and a dearth of affordable ones has affected low- and middle-income people.

Besides, over 60 percent of high-end apartments are bought by speculators, which is threatening the sustainable development of the housing market, HoREA said. (source: vnexpress.net)

January 20, 2021 / by / in
Social housing development important to driving market out of difficulties

Social housing could be the solution to driving the real estate market out of this difficult time caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Ministry of Construction.

Buyers of a social housing project in Nha Trang complete procedures to receive their apartments. – VNA/VNS Photo Nguyen Dung

Director of the ministry’s Housing and Real Estate Market Management Department Nguyen Trong Ninh said the pandemic had revealed limitations in the real estate market.

Ninh said the market was suffering from the impacts of COVID-19, and around 80 per cent of brokerage companies had closed. The number of new firms operating in the real estate sector had dropped by 11.9 per cent, while the number of firms that had halted operations in the first quarter was up 94.1 per cent on-year.

The ministry said the property market would continue to face difficulties in the remaining months of this year with declines in transactions and supply.

These difficulties have been caused by the economic slowdown, bottlenecks in granting licences for new projects, tightened credit for real estate, and declines in the services and tourism industries that have taken a hit from COVID-19 since the start of the year.

The ministry said that housing prices remained unstable and unaffordable to the majority of people. At the same time, speculation had significantly inflated housing prices.

According to Le Hoang Chau, President of the HCM City Real Estate Association, the market was quiet in the first quarter and had nearly frozen in April. Transactions fell by 70 per cent and revenue by 80 per cent, resulting in exhausted liquidity.

Chau said that both property developers and home buyers had fallen into difficulties due to COVID-19.

Nguyen Tran Nam, president of Viet Nam Real Estate Association, said that focus should be placed on developing social housing projects to create an impetus for the market to overcome this difficult time.

Careful evaluation of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic was needed, especially in Ha Noi and HCM City, to support the market, Nam said.

At the ministry’s meeting late last week to discuss solutions to support the real estate market, experts urged the ministry to ask the Government to postpone land use fee payments, tax reductions for real estate companies and lower lending interest rates.

More capital

The Government has decided to allocate VND1 trillion (US$43.1 million) for the Viet Nam Bank for Social Policies and VND2 trillion for four commercial banks to provide loans for social housing development.

These loan packages are expected to help increase capital for social housing development, after a VND30 trillion loan package with preferential rates ended in 2016.

According to Ninh, the ministry was developing criteria for those eligible to borrow money from the package to speed up disbursement. The ministry would submit proposed amendments to Decree 100/2015/ND-CP about social housing development and management to the Government for promulgation in the fourth quarter of this year.

The ministry’s statistics showed that within the housing development programme for low-income earners in urban areas and workers in industrial zones, 207 projects had been completed with more than 85,000 apartments. Another 220 projects with 179,640 apartments are under construction.

However, this was only equivalent to 34.3 per cent of the national housing development programme to 2020, which set a target of 12.5 million sq.m of new social housing by the end of this year.

Source: VNA

May 9, 2020 / by / in
HCM City property market a magnet for foreign investors

The HCM City property sector has in recent years attracted billions of dollars worth of foreign investment due to its growth potential, real estate consulting companies have said.

A view of the HCM City skyline. The city real estate market is attracting a number of foreign investors. Photo tripsavvy.com

The city was recently named among the top three markets for property investors in the Asia Pacific by the US’ Urban Land Institute and global professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Last year it attracted foreign investment of US$8.3 billion, a 39.45 per cent surge from 2018, according to its People’s Committee.

Manufacturing accounted for 40.14 per cent ($3.33 billion) of it followed by real estate sector with 25 per cent ($2 billion).

Last year Phát Đạt Real Estate Development signed an agreement worth $22.5 million with Japan’s Samty Asia Investments Pte. Ltd to develop property projects with a focus on the city.

Singapore’s Keppel Group broke ground last November for Saigon Sports City, a 64ha smart township project in District 2.

Keppel has received licences for 20 other property projects with a total investment of more than $3 billion, most of them in the city.

Phú Đông Real Estate Group Joint Stock Company said it had tied up with three Japanese companies for a joint venture to develop housing projects in the city.

Korea’s SK Group has bought stakes worth $1 billion in giant developer Vingroup, SonKim Land raised $121 million from a group of investors including EXS Capital, ACA Investments and Credit Suisse AG.

Yamaguchi Masakazu, chief representative of Japan’s Creed Group in Việt Nam, said demand for real estate in Việt Nam remained high, especially in the mid-priced segment.

“The demand is expected to continue rising for the next 30 years.”

Magnet for foreign investment

Analysts said the HCM City property market would remain a magnet for foreign investment this year and in the coming years.

Nguyễn Hoàng, director of DKRA Việt Nam’s R&D division, said, “I think real estate will this year continue to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of foreign capital.”

In recent years the sector has consistently ranked second or third in terms of attracting FDI.

Foreign investment would help meet developers’ demand for funds as the Government tightens credit flowing into the property sector, Hoàng said.

Besides, foreign investors would insist on higher standards, which would require Vietnamese property businesses to raise their standards and improve transparency, he added.

Amid a trend of relocating production facilities from China, with Việt Nam becoming one of the favourite options for many corporations, industrial real estate is among the segments to attract foreign investment.

Industrial real estate rents rose significantly in several provinces last year.

HCM City has been one of the beneficiaries of the shift in manufacturing capacity away from China.

But the city property sector has also been hit hard by the difficulty in getting approval for new projects while there is little or no land left for development in the inner city.

Some Vietnamese businesses are now capable of competing with foreign investors in the high-end and luxury segments, but their number is limited to players like Novaland, Vinhomes, SonKim Land, and Refico.

Local businesses have obvious strengths like having lands available and understanding of legal procedures but suffer from weaknesses such as lack of resources, professionalism and transparency.

Source: VNA

February 25, 2020 / by / in
Condo market faces challenges in 2020: experts

The condo market in HCM City is expected to face challenges this year, according to industry experts.

A condo project in HCM City. Experts forecast that the market faces challenges in 2020.-VNS Photo

In the latest reports about market predictions, Le Hoang Chau, chairman of the HCM City Real Estate Association, said that the market would not face a bubble situation, but that it would encounter challenges in the first half of the year.

However, the market is expected to recover in the third quarter, thanks to the support of local authorities in solving difficulties facing real-estate developers, he said.

Chau also predicted that condos priced around VND2 billion each will continue to dominate the housing market in HCM City.

Having the same prediction, Duong Thuy Dung, senior director of CBRE Vietnam, said: “Licensing issues and credit tightening continue to be the main challenges for the condominium market in 2020. Buyers will face difficulty in buying a condo unit, not because they can’t afford them, but rather because they can’t find suitable options. On the other hand, developers are well-positioned to increase profits thanks to the shortage of existing condo projects in the primary market.”

In addition, the remaining issues, including flooding, air pollution and traffic congestion, have had a negative impact on living quality in big cities.

As a result, new township developments in fringe areas that offer full range of facilities and good connectivity will receive high interest from the market.

To meet this demand, developers have planned new township projects in suburban districts and neighbouring provinces. These projects offer fresh living environments for end-users as well as a good options for investors, especially in the context of limited supply in HCM City.

A CBRE report noted that in 2020 licensing issues would continue to pose a hurdle for the market, so about 30,000 units would be added to the market.

Some new projects in fringe districts which are expected to launch are Vinhomes Grand Park in District 9, AIO City in Binh Tan District, West Gate Park in Binh Chanh, PiCity in District 12; and the southern area with subsequent phases of Eco Green Saigon, Sunshine City Saigon and Sunshine Diamond River in District 7.

Primary prices will continue to increase due to a lack of supply. The luxury segment is expected to have a price increase of 10 per cent year-on-year.

Prices for high-end and mid-end segments will increase 5 per cent year-on-year, due to new supply and high price levels in 2019. The affordable segment will have a modest growth of 2 per cent year on year.

The secondary market will be more active due to a lack of supply in the primary market and new pricing levels across the market.

End-users may find limited options in the primary market and may turn to the secondary market which offers both completed projects and those with good construction progress, the company said.

JLL predicts that about 30,000-35,000 units are expected to launch officially in 2020, mainly from the Vinhomes Grand Park project.

“It should be noted that the number is subject to a great deal of uncertainty given the government’s tight control in granting land-use rights and construction licences. Strong demand is set to carry on and will boost the price further across all sectors.

“However, the demand in the high-end segment, especially from investors, is likely to slow down in the long term as their already-high price level and low rental yield make it a less attractive investment,” the company said.

Source: VNA

February 25, 2020 / by / in