VietNamNet Bridge – Answering the question whether the state’s policy to survive the estate market is to protect "group interests," Minister of Construction - Trinh Dinh Dung - affirmed that protecting the interest of enterprises is protecting the interests of people.

Very hard to break the frozen estate market, says minister

Minister of Construction Trinh Dinh Dung.

National Assembly (NA) deputies raised tough questions to Minister of Construction Trinh Dinh Dung at the NA Standing Committee’s meeting on January 24.

Many deputies asked Dung to clarify the beneficiary of the package of solutions to defrost the frozen real estate market, the estate businesses or the ordinary people who do not have a house yet.

Deputies also asked the Government to make a clear and transparent message on the housing pricing policy for low-income people as well as their access to bank loans.

Deputy Chief of the NA delegation of Thanh Hoa Province, Mr. Le Nam, said there was collusion of interest groups to push the estate prices up. He said it is better for the people if the government let's the estate market solve its problems. If the State tries to help but it does not have sufficient resources, it will only make the situation more complicated.

Deputy Ngo Van Minh, a member of the NA’s Legal Committee, asked: "Who made the current market freeze that now the government has to rescue? It is needed to make clear this point.”

Vice Chief of the NA delegation of Quang Binh province, Mr. Bui Van Phuong said: "One causes problems but one another has to solve the problems. It’s us to protect group interests".

In response to the above questions, Minister Dung affirmed that the solutions given for the purpose of removing difficulties for the economy because the bottleneck of the economy is in real estate and this market needs intervention to balance supply and demand.

Saying that the current inventory of apartments is enough to meet the people's needs until 2050, a member of the NA’s Committee of Justice – Mr. Do Van Duong said the given solutions would make slow effects while the economy is exhausted and sick. He added that many companies do not slash the prices for apartments and questioned whether they are looking forward to the state’s rescue policy. Duong asked the Minister of Construction to evaluate the overall impacts of the solutions.

Minister Dung said that the solutions to solve difficulties for the real estate market will take effect in the long term, not short term. To quickly and thoroughly rescue the estate market, huge financial resources are needed. Other countries in the world have to take money from the national reserves to buy back the property inventory and then selling but Vietnam has to solve problems step by step.

The Chair of the Coal and Minerals Group Tran Xuan Hoa said that part of the freezing market belongs to foreign investors and speculators so should the state save this area?

"There is the gap between supply and demand but why does the price not reduce in accordance with the real value and the people’s demand. Does it say whether there are any underground forces looking forward to the rescue policy?" Hoa asked.

The Construction Minister explained that the estate market in Ho Chi Minh City and the southern region got freezing before the North, from 2008 to the present, so the decline is stronger. The real estate prices in Hanoi have reduced by at least 5%, particularly 50% for land of projects and 15-29% for apartments.

According to Dung, the state can not interfere too deeply by forcing businesses to sell houses at any price. He said that the real estate prices are gradually returning to the real value.

Le Nhung