The apartment buildings under the Nam Trung Yen resettlement project have been degrading with walls peeling and the roofs dilapidated. Still, many buyers are willing to pay VND3-4 billion.

H, a resident at A6C Building, said she bought a 60 sq m apartment on the fourth floor for her son last year, priced at VND2.1 billion. The apartment is now valued at VND4 billion.

“I could not imagine that the apartment prices would soar so rapidly, 100 percent just after one year,” she said.

On a real estate forum, a broker offered to sell a 57.2 sq m apartment in A6D Nam Trung Yen residential quarter at VND4.1 billion, or VND71 per sq m. The apartment consists of two bedrooms and basic interior facilities.

The apartment has been renewed with new painting, but there are still cracks and peeling walls. The outer wall surface is rough, with cement falling off, revealing old bricks. Located on the highest floor of the building, the apartment is valued at over VND4 billion.

According to Lan Anh, a local resident, many households have expanded the balcony to increase the usable area. With the apartment degradation, the expansion may cause risks to the households and other residents.

“I feel as if I am living in an old collective quarter in Hanoi, not in a resettlement area,” Anh said.

Commenting about the price offered by the broker, H, from Cau Giay district, said: “I don’t think apartment prices are so high. I heard that in many cases, the prices offered by brokers are twice as much as the real value."

Long, who bought a 60 sq m apartment at 6B building at VND3 billion, said the price increased by VND300 million just two months later.

“VND3 billion was the price 4-5 months ago.  You can’t buy such an apartment at VND3 million,” he said. 

Asked why the apartments are so expensive despite the degradation, Phuong, a resident in D Building, said they have fire prevention and control equipment, a large yard and full legal status (a land use right certificate which proves permanent ownership).

Another resident said the apartments there have become more expensive simply because average market prices have increased.

He said typhoon Yagi affected the quality of some local apartments, so some households decided to sell their apartments and leave.

Tien Anh