Analysts highlight three promising real estate segments in 2024

After a challenging 2023 the property market is not expected to make a rapid recovery this year, but gradually stabilize.

The following are the segments that many experts predict will attract buyers not looking to speculate or buy as an investment, but who will be actual users.

Townhouses

Le Quoc Kien, an independent real estate consultant, said townhouses for rent are a good investment channel for people who have money to spare now.

They can get townhouses at 10-15% lower than at the end of 2021 in HCMC, he said. Though their prices are still quite high, they could be used for living or rented out, he said.

They usually appreciate by an average of 1-2% a year, he said.

Meanwhile, mortgage interest rates are at below 10% a year and fixed for two or three years, by which time the real estate market will recover, he said.

Industrial real estate

In 2023 industrial real estate continued to be the market’s bright spot, with rents surging by 20% in some places, despite the economic situation.

Data from the Vietnam Association of Realtors showed rents increased the most in the north, while in the south they were up 15%.

Trang Bui, CEO of Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam, said at the end of last year, when retail demand was forecast to quadruple, factories and warehouses were in great demand.

Meanwhile, industrial parks and logistics warehouses in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are almost fully taken.

Apartments

Many market research firms said apartments were the least affected segment last year since people need them to live in.

Nguyen Quoc Anh, deputy general director of real estate website Batdongsan, said the average returns from apartments since 2015 have been 12.5% a year, higher and more consistent than stocks, gold, foreign currency, land, or bank deposits.

The reason is that demand for buying and renting apartments is always high and so their prices are constantly increasing.

A study of 30 apartment projects in HCMC by real estate consultancy Savills Vietnam found rental yields in 2023 remained stable at 4.8%.

Giang Huynh, associate director, head of research and S22M platform at Savills Ho Chi Minh City, said areas such as the erstwhile District 2 and Districts 3 and 10 have seen the highest returns recently.

The return on investments from apartments is higher than the deposit interest rate, she said. "In the short term, rental yields are expected to increase due to the decrease in the number of new apartments."