With 3-4 billion VND, it is still difficult to buy a house
The Vietnamese real estate market, especially the apartment segment, has witnessed a strong price increase in recent times. This makes it difficult for many people, even with 3-4 billion VND in hand, to find a suitable place to live.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan (32 years old, office worker) has more than 3 billion VND after many years of accumulating and selling a small asset. She hopes to buy a mid-range apartment in the suburbs of Hanoi, but the current price makes it difficult to find a house. "Projects under 70 million VND/m2 are very rare. If there were, they would all be far from the center, making it inconvenient for their children to go to work and study" - Ms. Lan shared.
Similarly, Mr. Pham Van Dung (38 years old), a sales employee, is struggling to find a house. His family has just sold a 50m2 apartment in Thanh Xuan district for more than 3 billion VND, planning to buy a larger apartment to have more space when the family welcomes more members. However, finding a suitable apartment is not easy.
"The project priced under 70 million VND/m2 is almost gone. Even suburban areas such as Gia Lam, Hoai Duc, Ha Dong have approached 80 million VND/m2, many places in the suburbs even exceed 100 million VND/m2. With 4 billion VND, it is very difficult to buy a 3-bedroom apartment in Hanoi" - Mr. Dung said.
Currently, a two-bedroom apartment with an area of about 70m2 in the center of Hanoi has an average price of 5-6 billion VND/apartment, and can even be up to 10 billion VND in prime locations. With a budget of 3-4 billion VND, many people, despite expanding their search scope to suburban areas, still have difficulty finding suitable apartments.
Cheap apartments have almost disappeared from the market
According to Savills and One Mount, the price of primary apartments in Hanoi at the end of 2024 will fluctuate between 75-76.7 million VND/m2. Many projects in Gia Lam, Hoai Duc, Dong Anh have exceeded the threshold of 70 million VND/m2. Even suburban districts such as Thanh Tri and Thuong Tin are approaching this level.
The high-end segment in central districts such as Tay Ho, Thanh Xuan, Cau Giay fluctuates between 150-300 million VND/m2. Some outstanding projects such as Endless Skyline West Lake (90-115 million VND/m2), Lumi Hanoi (70 80 million VND/m2) or Masteri Grand Avenue in Gia Lam (90-120 million VND/m2) are all at high prices. Areas that were once expected to have cheap apartments such as Dong Anh and Gia Lam also have no projects under 75 million VND/m2.
The secondary market is not much easier, the price in Thanh Xuan and Cau Giay is commonly over 80 million VND/m2. In this context, people with an income of 15-30 million VND/month have almost no chance to buy a house that suits their real housing needs.
Apartment prices do not accurately reflect real value
Talking to Lao Dong reporter, Mr. Nguyen Tho Tuyen - Chairman of the Board of Directors of BHS Real Estate Joint Stock Company (BHS Group) - said that the supply of apartments in Hanoi is very scarce, posing a big problem that the market cannot solve. High demand while limited supply has caused apartment prices to increase rapidly.
“For more than a year, the price of apartments has increased by 50-70%, the increase too fast also raises many issues on the rationality of this price. The current price of the apartment does not reflect the true value but is mainly pushed up due to psychological factors and scarcity. 2-3%/year, lower than the bank interest rate.
From the perspective of a business, Mr. Tuyen said that businesses are not interested in affordable housing, mainly due to high input costs. Land use fees are calculated based on project location and equivalent products, regardless of whether it is a high-end or affordable project. This makes businesses tend to focus on the high-end segment to maximize profits.
In addition, long-term legal problems and high financial costs are also major barriers. When businesses face huge costs, businesses will have difficulty developing low-cost housing projects with limited profit margins" - Mr. Tuyen added.
