The Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS) says since the beginning of 2022, the market has had a supply shortage, especially in affordable products.

In the first quarter of 2023, about 25,000 products were launched into the market, mostly inventory left over from projects already opened for sale. 

Meanwhile, there was no information about sales from new projects.

As demand was weak, the absorption capability of the market in the first quarter of 2023 was just 11 percent, or 2,700 transactions, a sharp fall of 50 percent compared with the same period in 2022.

In the first five months of 2023, 554 real estate firms were dissolved, up 30.4 percent compared with the same period last year. The number of newly established real estate firms dropped by 61.4 percent to 1,744, while many enterprises downsized their staff.

In such conditions, real estate firms have had to cut the number of brokers. VARS has estimated that the number of brokers still working in the market is 30-40 percent of that in late 2022. The personnel streamlining continues.

VARS warned that if the market conditions remain tough, 23 percent of businesses won’t be able to maintain operation by the end of the third quarter and only 43 percent will be able to exist until the year end.

The association stressed that the health of real estate firms has become so bad that they need "medicine" immediately. They need cash and capital to revive production and businesses, not just debt payment deadline extensions, or debt restructuring.

Interest rates have been high since late 2022. They fell slightly earlier this year, but are still high. 

After "feeling the pulse of enterprises", VARS believes that it is necessary to classify real estate firms into several groups for "treatment".

Hong Khanh