HCMC retail rents soar to record $280 per s.qm on dwindling supply

It represented increases of 18% increase year-on-year and 60-70% from five years ago, according to property consultancy CBRE Vietnam.

Data from another property consultancy, Savills Vietnam, showed that the supply of high-end retail space in the downtown area has remained mostly unchanged at 1.5 million square meters since the first quarter of 2022.

Analysts pointed to this lack of new supply for the soaring rents.

Duong Thuy Dung, managing director of CBRE Vietnam, said in the first half only 56,000 square meters of retail space were added, and this was at two Vincom projects in the non-central districts of 9 and 10.

The downtown always has an occupancy rate of over 95% as demand from international brands is high, and this drives up rents, she added.

Trang Bui, Vietnam country head of property services company Cushman & Wakefield, said there has been no new major retail development in the downtown area in the last three years.

CBRE said nothing is planned for the next three years either.

Around 100,000 square meters of retail space would be added this year at two developments but not in the central business districts, it added.

Meanwhile, new international brands continue to announce plans to expand into Vietnam, and mostly eye HCMC.

Chinese food chains such as Dahu Hotpot, Xuxiaoying and Long Wang are currently scouting for more locations in the city.