With a communist government, most would not have considered Vietnam potential ground for a thriving real estate market. Their property market suffered a severe blow about 4 years ago when property bubble burst, leaving banks in debt and buyers and developers defaulting on their loans.
Photo Credit: Phuoc Thanh Construction
But 4 years on, the government has injected stimulus into the real estate sector of up to US$1.4 million and has also restructured their banking sector to ensure history does not repeat itself. In fact, they have gone even further to relax rules on foreign investment money coming through their borders. Foreign firms, individual buyers as well as Vietnamese who have left the country during the war in 1975 – the Viet Kieu, are now able to purchase properties in Hanoi. And response has been overwhelming. One developer, Vingroup, reported a whooping 112 deposits on apartments within 2 hours of their launches specifically targeting foreigners and Viet Kieu.
Most foreign firms are keen to purchase properties to house their foreign staff. Intel and Samsung, which are situated in the Saigon Hi-Tech Park, are just a couple of the many international firms snapping up properties. Average prices of high-end apartments in the southern commercial hub go up to as much as US$1,800 per sq m. In the capital, prices are around $1,600, a number familiar to the property players before the last housing crisis. With a market value of US$21 billion, Vietnam’s real estate sector still has a way to go compared to Singapore’s US$241 billion, but that difference could be what most attracts investors.
