Before 2022, land was one of the “hot” segments in the real estate market. Especially in the suburbs of big cities, land was chosen by many investors.

However, from 2022 until now, land has been "out of favor", many investors have fled this product line, causing land prices to suddenly drop. This is something that rarely happens.

According to a report by batdongsan.com.vn, the level of interest in the land segment nationwide in the third quarter of 2023 decreased by nearly 10% compared to the previous quarter.

Compared to March 2023, land in the Northern region recorded a 73% decrease in interest; land in the Southern provinces also decreased by 71% and the Central region decreased the most, by more than 75%. The volume of land transactions has not improved, mainly due to concerns about legality and inappropriate selling prices.

Speaking to reporters of the Journalist and Public Opinion Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Trung Tuan, a real estate expert, said that before 2022, land prices would "bounce" very strongly, with some places increasing by 30% - 40% in less than a year.

Therefore, when the market is sluggish, investors are forced to reduce prices to get rid of their goods, which is understandable. However, Mr. Tuan believes that land is still a segment with many growth prospects, especially land in some projects around big cities.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Anh, Deputy General Director and Sales Director of batdongsan.com.vn said that, despite the sharp decline in land plots, this is still a segment that attracts great interest in the real estate market, accounting for 28% of customers' purchasing choices.

Of which, 46% of investors choose to spend money to buy land, 32% of customers who want to expand their living space also choose to buy land.

In terms of price fluctuations, land prices have been growing continuously since 2018. Accordingly, land prices nationwide in the third quarter of 2023 increased by 38% compared to the same period in 2018, the Southern market had the strongest increase in land prices in the country, nearly 71%, while the Northern provinces recorded an increase of about 51% in the past 6 years.

Assessing the recovery prospects of the land market, according to a survey conducted on 1,000 real estate brokers, 25% of brokers believe that the land market will not recover until the fourth quarter of 2024, about 17% believe that it will recover in the third quarter of 2024 and 22.6% believe that the reversal point will be the second quarter of 2024.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Quoc Anh said that compared to other types, the recovery time of the land market may be slower due to many factors.

In terms of economic growth, it is forecasted that the economy will not recover until 2024. Open credit for real estate investment remains very low, and interest rates are gradually decreasing, but at the current rate of decrease, it is expected to take 3-4 quarters to return to the 2021 interest rate.

In addition, the speed of public investment disbursement is expected to explode in 2025, the land law is also expected to be passed by the end of 2024 and will take some time to come into effect. In addition, market sentiment is still low with real estate segments belonging to the investment and speculative types, which do not serve real housing needs.

Therefore, Mr. Quoc Anh predicts that land will recover more slowly than other types and it may not be until the end of 2024 that this market will reverse.