Lending to property industry up 6% this year

By Minh Son November 13, 2023 | 08:35 pm PT

Banks gave loans worth VND2,740 trillion (US$114.166 billion) to the property sector in the first nine months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 6%, the central bank said.

Mortgages accounted for 64% and developers borrowed VND986.4 trillion, or 36% of the total.

Last year, the latter had accounted for 31% in the same period, equivalent to VND800 trillion.

The State Bank of Vietnam said loans for trading by developers has grown faster than last year as well as overall credit growth.

"This shows that the solutions and efforts made by the government, banking industry ... and [local governments] to mitigate difficulties have gradually proven effective."

But developers are still grappling with lengthy legal procedures, supply-demand imbalance in many segments, weak demand, and lack of resources.

Speaking at a meeting with real estate businesses earlier this year the central bank’s deputy governor, Dao Minh Tu, said credit had not been tightened for the industry but rather credit risk had been controlled to prevent high-risk activities like speculation.