SITE IS FILLED

Mr. Minh Nhat, who has just moved from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City to start a business, has been running around looking for a good location in the city center to open a restaurant in the past few days. After many days of searching through relationships, brokers and posting ads, he still hasn't found a satisfactory location because all the good locations have been rented. "Premises are really scarce now, especially those in good locations," Mr. Nhat complained. This situation is very different from last year, when billion-dollar streets in the city center were still full of for-lease signs.

Observing the streets in the central area of ​​Ho Chi Minh City such as Ham Nghi, Le Loi, Nguyen Hue, Nguyen Du, Dong Khoi, Hai Ba Trung, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai... previously there were quite a lot of closed premises, but now almost all are filled. On the most expensive streets in Ho Chi Minh City such as Nguyen Hue, Dong Khoi, there are currently only a few closed addresses. But according to our research, these premises belong to Ms. Truong My Lan and are being seized. The rest are busy, bustling and crowded shops.

Space for rent in townhouses or shopping centers are full of customers.

PHOTO: DINH SON

The reason for the rental space being filled is that the landlords have accepted to reduce prices, instead of keeping and even increasing prices like in previous years. According to data from the Batdongsan website, at the beginning of this year, when the situation of shops and restaurants was sluggish for a long time, the demand for rent decreased and showed no signs of improvement, many landlords gradually accepted to lower prices. Most of the premises in the affordable segment, in the suburbs, have reduced prices by 10 - 15% for new contracts. In the central area, the rental price is 15 - 20% lower than previously signed contracts. Data from DKRA Group also shows that in the first 2 months of the year, the rental price of townhouses in districts 1, 3, Binh Thanh decreased by 20 - 25%. Areas far from the center such as districts 7, 10, Binh Tan, Thu Duc City also reduced prices by around 20%.

Talking to us, Mr. Ngoc Thang, a real estate broker specializing in leasing premises in the central area of ​​Ho Chi Minh City, analyzed: In 2023 - 2024, there were quite a lot of vacant rental premises but landlords still did not reduce prices. However, entering 2025, landlords had to reduce prices for tenants to "close the deal" instead of "closing the door and leaving it vacant every day is a waste of money". Especially large premises on central routes, although having many commercial advantages, have very high rental prices and are picky about tenants, which is a disadvantage.

The main customers of these premises are often brands with strong financial flows such as large F&B, banking, finance... The price reduction has helped the long-vacant premises find tenants. "In the context of the still difficult economy, especially the US-China trade war, the landlord reducing the rent is a solution that benefits both sides. The current market rules have changed, not leaning towards the landlord as before. Therefore, with the demand for renting premises always existing and still large, adjusting the rent to a reasonable level will help the occupancy rate increase again," Mr. Ngoc Thang explained.

Mr. Dinh Minh Tuan, Director of Batdongsan in the Southern region, also affirmed that reducing rental prices is appropriate in the context of the retail industry facing many challenges. For families whose rental income contributes significantly to financial expenses, prolonging the sluggish situation will only cause harm to both parties. This is the time for both landlords and tenants to sit down and support each other to overcome difficulties. Landlords accepting a reasonable price reduction for short-term rentals will be a temporary solution to help reduce damage to both parties.

SHOPPING CENTER FULL OF TENANTS

While townhouses for rent have recovered, space in shopping centers is almost full. Data from CBRE Vietnam shows that in shopping centers in the inner city of Ho Chi Minh City, the occupancy rate is about 93 - 99% and there are very few vacant spaces. This pushes rental prices in the central area up by 10 - 11%/year. In 2024 alone, CBRE recorded the rental price in the central area at 280 USD/m2 ^/ month (equivalent to 7 million VND), an increase of 15.4% over the same period in 2023. Meanwhile, retail space in projects located outside the center also has an annual increase of 4 - 5%/year, with an average rental price of 53 USD/m2 ^/ month (equivalent to 1.3 million VND). Four new shopping mall projects opening in the area outside the center of Ho Chi Minh City in 2024, namely Central Premium, Parc Mall (District 8), Vincom Megamall Grandpark (Thu Duc City) and Vincom 3.2 (District 10), were all nearly 100% occupied upon launch.

Ms. Mai Vo, Head of Retail Services at CBRE Vietnam, informed that in 2024, Ho Chi Minh City recorded the highest net absorption of retail space in the past 7 years, with 132,000 m2 ^of leased floor space, the vacancy rate in the whole market was only 7%. This comes from the fact that F&B brands and the fashion industry are shifting their rental needs to retail centers. In addition, the demand for renting central space from Chinese brands in the Vietnamese market also helps to quickly fill up vacant rental spaces and increase rental prices in both central and non-central areas. For example, Vincom Dong Khoi welcomed the Chinese fashion brand Urban Revivo to Vietnam for the first time. At Saigon Center, the Chinese toy brand Popmart also chose this place as a stop.

Sharing the same view, Ms. Cao Thi Thu Huong, Senior Manager of Savills Vietnam Research Department, also affirmed: The "all-in-one" model at shopping malls creates convenience for F&B, fashion, and cosmetics brands to approach customers. Compared to retail premises in townhouses, the decisive factor for the success of shopping malls is the strategy of arranging reasonable tenant areas, creating harmony between product lines.

According to experts' analysis, currently, retail space in Ho Chi Minh City is growing slowly, especially in the central area, there is almost no more land left to develop new shopping malls. Meanwhile, the need to expand business and the increasing participation of international brands in Vietnam have helped the space in shopping malls become more and more attractive to customers.

Vietnam retail market ranked highest in the region

Market data analysis company Euromonitor (UK) forecasts that non-food retail sales in Vietnam from 2024 to 2027 are expected to grow at a rate of 12.6% per year. The consumer spending index of each household in Vietnam will also increase by 38% in the period 2024-2028, ranking highest in Southeast Asia. Many niche brands are aiming to open stores in 2025-2026. A large number of Chinese brands are looking for opportunities to expand abroad, with Vietnam being one of the potential markets to develop their store network. This promises to bring many opportunities for the Vietnamese retail market in the coming years.

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cac-tuyen-duong-ti-usd-da-nhon-nhip-tro-lai-185250427212914011.htm