VietNamNet Bridge - As the real estate market has bounced back, the battle among real estate service providers has resumed. 

In October 2012, the real estate market heard shocking news that CBRE Vietnam had been taken over by CBRE Group. 

Marc Townsend brought CBRE back to the Vietnamese market in 2003 through a franchise contract and turned CBRE Vietnam into the leading real estate service providers for nine years.

At that time, he did not make any comment about the deal.

In 2012, the Vietnamese real estate market had a serious drop in transactions. As a result, service firms had to either operate at a moderate level or withdraw from the market.  

Three years later, Townsend still manages CBRE in Vietnam, but the office is now busy. The recovering real estate market, especially in Hanoi, HCMC, Da Nang and Hai Phong has prompted it to employ 28 more workers to satisfy the high demand.

In March 2015, Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL) which was quiet for the last two years, unexpectedly became a partner in charge of managing the real estate projects developed by M.I.K Corporation. It will operate the high-end Villa Park in district 9 in HCM City.

However, what caught the public’s attention was the firm’s release of the report that HCM City was listed as one of the world’s top 10 dynamic cities in July.

Savills Vietnam has also seen improvement in its activities in Vietnam since the real estate market has recovered.

In June 2015, Savills Vietnam set up a customer care division in charge of the South Korean market after realizing that investors from the market had been increasing.

Neil MacGregor, managing director of Savills Vietnam, said the firm hired three specialists, one South Korean, one Japanese and one British employee who can speak Japanese fluently, to help the firm access investors from the market.

Savills has also developed sales staff in Da Nang and Nha Trang where it can see the high supply of high-end resorts.

Market remapped

In the past, foreign service providers had 90 percent of the market share. The best known names included CBRE, Savills, Colliers International, Cushman & Wakefield, DTZ, Knight Frank and JLL.

However, big changes have occurred. The ‘big 3’ group now comprises Savills, CBRE and C&W instead of Colliers. Meanwhile, Knight Frank, a major player in the European market, has all but left Vietnam.

The same situation has occurred with Coldwell Banker which entered Vietnam in 2009.  Colliers, known as the manager of A-class buildings, now focuses its operation in HCM City.

DNSG