Apartment prices have increased to over VND100 million per sq m in the suburbs, while land bid prices are tens times higher than starting prices. Real estate firms have reported a surge in revenue from brokerage services.

Offering sky high bidding prices at land auctions but later giving up the deals even after making a deposit is a trick played by real estate speculators to push market prices up.

Citizens satisfying all the requirements as stipulated by the laws are eligible to buy social housing, regardless of where they are from, according to Vuong Duy Dung, deputy director of the Housing and Real Estate Market Management Department.

While domestic realtors have avoided the affordable housing market, foreign investors have poured money into the segment.

Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Chi said the Ministry of Finance (MOF) agrees with the proposal on taxing second and subsequent houses to prevent speculation and ensure the transparent and stable development of the real estate market.

At a housing project in Hung Yen, apartments have quoted prices of VND7-8 billion, but the real price buyers must pay is VND750 million higher, or a price gap of 10 percent.

Many properties used as collateral for loans and foreclosed by commercial banks remain unsold, largely because many Vietnamese fear the bad luck of the previous owners may transfer to them.

The Ministry of Construction (MOC) believes that converting resettlement apartments to social housing is the best solution to the problem of thousands of idle apartments.

Real estate brokers say some land plots with the highest bid price of VND133.3 million per sq m at a recent auction in Hoai Duc district eventually sold for an additional VND200 million per plot.

Under the 2023 Housing Law, since August 1, 2024, the sellers of apartments at social housing projects have not had to pay 50 percent of land use fees.

After the press conference on July 29 about the draft decision on adjusting land price levels, the HCM City Department of Natural Resources and the Environment continued to answer the public’s inquiries.

As the supply of new apartments remains low, leading to price increases, people are buying older apartments instead.

The real estate market will not recover promptly as it will take more time for the new Land Law to be applied, according to experts.

Real estate firms in Vietnam continue to face difficulties as real estate shares fluctuate unpredictably.

Many offers to sell property with attractive discounts of up to hundreds of millions of dong still exist, but houses remain very expensive.

The Ministry of Construction (MOC) has proposed that the government conclude that housing ownership by foreign individuals should not include not land-use rights. In addition, foreigners should be allowed to extend the house ownership period once.

Mergers and acquisitions between domestic and international real estate developers were down in the first half of the year, but could be a future bright spot with Vietnam boasting attractive economic fundamentals and investors biding their time.

Many enterprises have had to sell assets and subsidiaries to get cash and survive the current difficult period, as the property market faces weak liquidity and a decline in revenue.

Cocobay Da Nang, the super project in Da Nang, and a multi-billion dong golf course in Bac Giang were the leading news items last week.