There will not be much change in the property market in the second half of the year, a senior Ministry of Construction official has said.

Vu Van Phan, deputy director of the housing and real estate management department, was quoted on Infonet e-newspaper as saying that demand for affordable and social housing would continue to be high, especially in fast-growing urban areas, but there would be a gap in terms of liquidity in different segments.

“In 2018, supply of mid-level and high-end apartments will likely surpass demand while there will be a shortage of affordable ones.

“Low-priced products from reputable developers will see high demand and sales of high-priced products will slow down.

“Prices of other real estate products will fluctuate somewhat.”

There are many projects coming up in the resort segment, including condotels, this year, he said.

With condotel supply being high, he expected the market to see a slowdown, he said.

Nguyen Manh Ha, former head of the Housing and Real Estate Market Management Agency and chairman of the Vietnam Association of Realtors, was also positive about the market this year, saying it would see steady growth.

“However, prices of land in outlying areas with developed infrastructure in Hanoi and HCM City will increase.”

At the moment, land remains the hottest sector, especially in HCM City’s outlying districts.

Experts have blamed the paucity of land in the city for the rising prices in neighbouring provinces in the first quarter.

Southern provinces of Long An and Dong Nai have seen 2,009 and 1,895 land lots coming into the market in the last quarter, respectively.

Major projects include T&T Long Hau and Lexington Garden in Long An, and Swan Park and Dai Phuoc Island in Dong Nai.

As for the slowdown in demand in the high-end apartment segment, the Carina Plaza apartment fire in HCM City’s District 8 in March is also thought to be a major reason.

The condotel market is slowing down compared to last year due to the lack of a legal framework governing the product.

Moreover, investors have become more cautious about the risks in this segment and started to doubt developers’ promises of high returns.-VNA