HCMC property prices see decline

Early October, an individual investor named Nien sold an apartment at a big project in the city’s Thu Duc City for VND1.8 billion ($72,600), down over VND500 million against the original price he paid nearly two years ago.

Another investor successfully sold a 600-square meter plot of land in HCMC’s Can Gio District in October after slashing its offering price to VND18 billion from VND21 billion.

Investor of an apartment block project in Thu Duc City’s Truong Tho Ward last month announced a list price of around VND65 million per square meter, but a discount of 43% would be applied if buyers make immediate payment.

A property company in HCMC, which is developing a project in the neighboring province of Dong Nai, has sold several shop-houses over the past two weeks after offering discounts of up to 50% , its salespersons said, adding that the houses were sold for VND6-8 billion per unit.

A veteran realty broker named Chau told VnExpress that the steep dive in offering prices of land and apartments has happened because investors have lacked liquidity. Many customers were waiting for further decline, he said."This wait-and-see attitude may adversely affect the purchasing power on the real estate market during the peak sales season at the end of this year," he added.

Tran Khanh Quang, general director of Viet An Hoa Real Estate Investment Joint Stock Company, said difficulties due to credit tightening, corporate bond control, rising interest rates and declining liquidity over the past several months have pushed the property market into a severe thirst for capital.

"The wave of property price decline will likely continue into the last months of the year," he said.

At recent seminars on the real estate market, local economist Dinh The Hien had warned about a prolonged decrease in land and housing prices, with common decline rates ranging from 10% to 20%.