Brokerage offers 18-month return policy for Hanoi apartments

Dat Xanh Mien Bac allows buyers of three- and four-bedroom apartments, from 127 to 141 square meters apiece, at Tecco Garden urban project in Thanh Tri District to sell the units back to it after 18 months.

A company broker said that customers would need to pay 40% of the apartment’s value upfront and the rest through mortgage with zero interest for 18 months.

After the 18-month period, Dat Xanh Mien Bac will buy back the apartment at the same price it sold should the owner wants to sell. The owner will have to pay for all transaction fees.

The apartments under this policy are priced at VND25-30 million ($1,052-1,263) per square meter. This means a 127-square-meter apartment will cost around VND3.2 billion.

Dat Xanh Mien Bac CEO Vu Cuong Quyet said that the policy was issued to stimulate demand for large apartments, which are difficult to sell.

So far 35 apartments have been sold in the two months of implementing this policy, he told VnExpress.

"There are around 120 large apartments left. We estimate that they will all be sold by October."

Quyet said that the company offers this policy amid a plunge in property demand. Some property developers have also offered to buy back or rent homes after a period of time if owners do not want to live in them.

In Hanoi’s Ha Dong District, a developer is offering to rent from buyers a three-bedroom apartment with a promised profit of VND200 million a year.

Luu Thanh Tuan, CEO of real estate brokerage Hoa Viet Land, said that this was a new policy to boost demand in northern Vietnam, but advised buyers to review the contracts carefully to avoid legal issues.