Many real estate firms said they have had to cancel the events to advertise their new projects and delay launching new products.

Some realtors hope they can market new products in the second quarter. However, reports say there will be no improvement in housing supply for people in HCM City. The supply is even insignificant in suburban areas.

Nhip Cau Dau Tu newspaper reported that only 16 commercial housing projects had investment licenses in 2019, a decrease of 64 projects, or 80 percent, compared with the year before.

Some realtors hope they can market new products in the second quarter. However, reports say there will be no improvement in housing supply for people in HCM City. The supply is even insignificant in suburban areas.

According to Nguyen The Diep, deputy chair of the Hanoi Real Estate Club, the urbanization process in Vietnam has been going rapidly, leading to high demand for housing products.

But the implementation of real estate projects in Hanoi and HCM City has been going slowly over the last two years because of many inspection campaigns by state management agencies. As a result, the market supply has declined.

In fact, the demand is quite low at this moment. Dang Hung Vo, a respected real estate expert, and former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, said because of the epidemic and the social distancing policy, many people cannot make transactions even if they want to buy houses.

Meanwhile, the realtors who planned to introduce new products in the first quarter of the year had to postpone their plans.

Some real estate firms have begun resuming their operation by opening online trading floors. The number of transactions is expected to soar once the epidemic ends as more realtors will launch new products.

Vo said real estate firms can receive support from the government during the epidemic. Under the newly approved Decree No 41, real estate firms can also enjoy the policy on extending tax and land use right fee payments.

Deputy chair of the Vietnam Real Estate Association Nguyen Van Dinh is optimistic about the real estate market performance, saying that there is high demand, high capital inflow to Vietnam, and increased income per capita.

Sharing the same view that the real estate market will recover after the epidemic, Pham Duc Toan from EZ Vietnam said some market segments will see good transactions such as land or commercial properties for lease.

Chi Mai 

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