Residential real estate cools off in Vietnam’s two largest cities

By Dam Tuan May 20, 2016 | 02:33 am PT

Savills Vietnam's latest report indicates that people are buying less houses than they were at the end of last year, but the figures are not all doom and gloom with Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City both outperforming their starts to 2015.

Ho Chi Minh City recorded only 6,400 residential transactions in the first quarter of the year, slipping 18 percent from the previous quarter. Hanoi didn't fare much better with transactions falling 13 percent to 5,600 in Q1.

However, according to a Savills report on property prices in the first quarter, it wasn't all bad news for the country's largest cities. Compared to the same period last year, residential transactions in Ho Chi Minh City rose 49 percent, and in Hanoi they remained unchanged.

The global real estate services provider's residential index for Ho Chi Minh City increased one point compared to the previous quarter and two points on-year to 91.3, while Hanoi stood at 107.5, a drop of less than one point on-quarter and climbing 0.2 points on-year.

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Residential property cooled in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in the first quarter. Photo by vinhomegoldenriver.com

The overall absorption rate in HCMC was 17 percent, down four points both on-quarter and on-year due to abundant new supply. Hanoi’s absorption rate was 34 percent, falling six percentage points from the last quarter and nine points on-year due to the usual effect of the Tet holidays.

In Ho Chi Minh City, grade C transactions rose by seven percent from last quarter while high class and grade B sales declined by 34 percent and 32 percent, respectively.

Regarding on-year, luxury residential real estate transactions in the southern hub rose strongly by 89 percent, and grade B also jumped 68 percent thanks to better construction progress, diversified product types and flexible factors.

In the capital, grade B residential transactions came out on top with a 66 percent hike in sales on-quarter and an absorption rate of 37 percent, while luxury and grade C sales dropped dramatically by 61 percent and 17 percent, respectively.

In general, Ha Noi's residential market is expected to stabilize in 2016.

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