The Ministry of Construction (MOC) has sent a dispatch to provincial and municipal people’s committees on strengthening management and control over the real estate price fluctuations.

MOC said the supply of housing products saw a slight increase in the second quarter over the previous quarter.

MOC reported that transactions of apartments and separate housing decreased compared with the previous quarter, while land transactions were on the rise.

The prices in transactions in the second quarter showed a clear upward trend. However, MOF pointed out that the real estate market is not stable, and institutions and many individuals and enterprises have been found violating the laws.

Some investors and real estate brokers have been found spreading rumors about real estate price escalations, buying and then selling properties, distorting information in an attempt to push prices up for profiteering. 

The prices of apartments at some projects and separate houses in areas such as Tay Ho, Hai Ba Trung, Ba Dinh and Hoai Duc have been increasing abnormally.

The land prices also surged sharply. At land auctions in some districts, the winning prices were much higher than the starting prices, which affects socio-economic development and the healthy development of the property market.

At a land auction in Thanh Than hamlet of Thanh Cao commune in Thanh Oai district, for example, the final bids were VND63-100 million per sq m, which was 5-8 times higher than the starting prices.

On July 28, Dan Phuong district held a land auction where 85 land plots were put into transactions. The highest bidding price was VND99.2 million per sq m.

At an auction of 19 land plots in Tien Yen commune in Hoai Duc district, which lasted from 9am August 19 to 4.30am August 20, the highest bidding price was VND133.3 million per sq m, or 18 times higher than the starting price of VND7.3 million.

MOC has requested local authorities to apply measures to ensure the healthy development of the real estate market. The ministry has requested municipal people’s committees to direct agencies to examine the organization of land auctions and ensure conformity with the law.

The ministry told local authorities to focus on controlling transactions of real estate which change hands repeatedly within a short time.

Hong Khanh