Living with Regret
In 2018, with the savings and support from both sides, Mr. and Mrs. Duc Giang bought a 64 m2 apartment in Ha Dong for 1.3 billion VND, equivalent to over 20 million VND/m2.
By the end of 2023, when they saw the price of houses increasing, Mr. and Mrs. Giang sold their apartment for 2.7 billion VND. They thought the price increase was high, but in 2024, the price increased even more.
“After a period of renting a house, my wife and I looked at advertisements for selling apartments, but we were shocked to see that the prices were extremely high. An apartment with a similar area to ours that we sold earlier, in the same area, was listed for over 3.5 billion VND.
Some new projects even had very high prices. The money we got from selling our old house was almost nothing, so we continued to accept the burden of bank loans and rent a house.” - Mr. Giang said.
According to Mr. Giang, he doesn't know if it's because of the real estate agents' tactics or not, but whenever he inquired about an apartment, the agent would say that someone had already reserved it or the owner had sold it within a day or two. Along with the message, apartment of this price range cannot be bought quickly.
Similar to Mr. Giang, Mr. Ha Van Tien (45 years old) said that although he made a profit of over 1 billion VND when selling his old apartment in Linh Dam, but from the beginning of this year, the price of apartments in his area has increased to 40 million VND/m2. With this price, if he sold now, he and his wife would make an additional 300 million VND.
However, until now, Mr. Tien is still actively looking for an apartment that meets the needs of his family, but he has not found one yet.
“I have been looking for a house in the area of Ha Dong district. The cheapest one being sold is 3 billion VND. If I buy at this price, my wife and I would have to take out an additional 500 million VND loan.
With our current income, just paying off the loan and living expenses, let alone the tuition fees for our two children, would be too much. My wife and I decided to delay our purchase, and we are renting a house temporarily, waiting for the price to drop before making a decision.” - Mr. Tien said.
Apartment prices under 50 million VND/m2 are "rarely seen"
According to historical data from Batdongsan, the selling price of apartments in Royal City (Thanh Xuan district) increased by 33%, The Pride (Ha Dong district) increased by 33%, My Dinh Song Da - Sudico increased by 32%, Vinhomes West Point (Nam Tu Liem district) increased by 28%...
Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Real Estate Association, said that the lack of supply, especially affordable apartments, has led to high prices.
Additionally, the increase in input costs, from materials to labor, and land prices, has also contributed to the increase in apartment prices.
“In the coming time, with the effective implementation of relevant laws, we expect a larger supply and a more balanced housing market.” - Mr. Dinh said.
In a recent market report, Savills, a real estate consulting firm, said that Hanoi has no new apartment supply under 45 million VND/m2 in the second quarter.
It can be seen that apartments priced under 50 million VND/m2 are "rarely seen" in Hanoi. Therefore, with a budget of 3 billion VND, it is difficult to buy a new apartment in the capital city.
