The product meets real housing needs and has good liquidity. In the photo: Visitors to the Destino Centro Project (Long An). Photo: TT

Investors continue to… observe

DKRA Group's August 2024 real estate market research report shows that Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring provinces have more than 12,000 primary apartments for sale. The supply is abundant, but the consumption volume only reached 774 units (6% of the basket). However, this number has also increased by 36% compared to July 2024. According to statistics, about 54% of successful transactions in August 2024 fell into projects priced at 30 - 35 million VND/m2.

Speaking to reporters from Dau Tu Newspaper, Mr. Vo Hong Thang, Deputy General Director of DKRA Group, shared that due to the difficult economic situation, floating interest rates tend to increase again, while new supply has quite high selling prices, so the liquidity of apartments in the South has not recovered as expected.

In fact, the demand for buying apartments in Ho Chi Minh City in the past month focused on projects priced at 45 - 60 million VND/m2, while in the Binh Duong market it was under 35 million VND/m2. However, most apartments in Ho Chi Minh City are currently priced at over 60 million VND/m2, with the highest recorded price reaching nearly 500 million VND/m2. In Binh Duong, projects currently on sale such as Bcons City, Happy One Central, The Emerald... are all priced at 40 - 55 million VND/m2 (including taxes and fees).

Besides the price issue, Mr. Thang also pointed out that many investors still have a wait-and-see mentality. In addition, there are some reasons such as projects lacking legal status, businesses not ensuring project progress, profit commitments, etc.

In a recent report, Dat Xanh Services Economic - Financial - Real Estate Research Institute (DXS-FERI) also assessed that investors and brokerage firms are still cautiously observing market developments after new laws related to real estate and housing were issued.

Towards real needs

According to experts, the real estate market is on the right track and has similar developments to the previous 10-year cycle, when it entered a reversal phase and explored policy effects. In particular, the apartment segment recovered the earliest, because it met many criteria of buyers.

The current period is also considered a milestone for a new cycle of real estate, but not all segments will "reign". To create liquidity, in addition to reasonable prices, businesses must ensure many other decisive factors such as project legality, infrastructure connectivity, etc. In this context, businesses that have a strategy to restructure products towards meeting real housing needs will solve the liquidity problem sooner.

Recently, Seaholdings Real Estate Joint Stock Company officially started construction of the Destino Centro Apartment Complex Project (in Long An province), less than a month after being granted a construction permit. The project has a total area of ​​over 2.1 hectares, including 5 blocks of 20 floors with about 2,000 apartments with an area of ​​35 - 60 m2, targeting customers with housing needs at a price of around 1 billion VND/apartment.

Mr. Tran Hien Phuong, General Director of Seaholdings, assessed that the current real estate market is a market of real demand. In big cities, especially Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the demand for housing is increasing, but the supply is decreasing. "I am confident that projects that do well and meet real demand will not have to worry about not being able to sell their products," Mr. Phuong affirmed.

The most exciting market in terms of affordable apartments supply in the Southern market is Binh Duong. According to the reporter of Dau Tu Newspaper, many real estate businesses are rushing to bring products to the market with many preferential policies to stimulate demand.

Japanese companies Cosmos and Koterasu Group, in a joint venture with a domestic company – TT Capital Investment Company – plan to invest about 150 million USD to build about 5,000 affordable apartments in Binh Duong. Of which, the TT AVIO Project has an area of ​​over 17,450 m2, with a scale of nearly 2,000 apartments, and officially started construction in early August 2024.

Previously, DKRA Realty - the general agent for marketing and distributing The Emerald 68 apartment project located on Binh Duong Avenue (Thuan An City) officially introduced the project to the market. The Emerald 68 attracted attention with its announced price from 1.68 billion VND/apartment, paying 50% to receive the house. BIDV Bank supports loans up to 70% of the apartment value, with a 0% interest rate sponsorship program, and a 30-month principal grace period.

In addition to the above projects, market research units estimate that there will be more than 10,000 apartments from dozens of new projects announced to the Binh Duong market from now until the end of 2024.