Houses fail to attract buyers despite price cuts in southern market

The CEO of a real estate exchange in HCMC’s District 5 said: "In the past we could sell one house for every 10 inquiries, but now it takes 30 to sell one. Many just take a look, but are not willing to buy."

With townhouses in HCMC costing VND15-20 billion ($639,000-$852,000), they are hard to sell because of high bank lending interest rates, which make prospective buyers hesitate to borrow.

The same situation is also seen in provinces such as Long An and Dong Nai, where there is little interest in houses and villas.

Projects going on sale in April were offered at 8-10% discount.

Some even offered discounts of up to 20% along with a guarantee they will rent the property for 12 months.

Chau, a real estate broker with 10 years’ experience in HCMC and Dong Nai, said not only the primary market but also the secondary market was dull.

Even when sellers offer to reduce the price by 15-25% in desperation, buyers do not budge, he said.

Vo Hong Thang, R&D deputy director of DKRA Group, said prices are still on the decline, causing buyers to wait on the sidelines, hoping to get even better prices.

Other factors are developers’ poor reputation, tardy construction progress and the slow recovery by the economy.

He feared the situation would worsen in the coming months.