Having been following the real estate market for a long time, Mr. Nguyen Duc Dung (from Bac Giang) and his wife have noticed that house prices in Hanoi are increasing rapidly. They planned to buy a house in 2025, but because they were worried that house prices would continue to increase, Mr. Dung and his wife decided to buy earlier than expected.
It is worth mentioning that after about 3 months of searching for an apartment on the secondary market, Mr. Dung almost fell into a deadlock because there was no apartment suitable for his family's financial level of 2.1 billion VND.
He said that although he had determined that the apartment price would be high, he did not think it would be that high. A 10-year-old apartment in Nam Tu Liem district with an area of about 60 square meters was offered for sale at a price of more than 3.2 billion VND. This price was far beyond the financial capacity of Mr. Dung and his wife.
Faced with the skyrocketing price of apartments, the couple decided to look for an apartment without a pink book. In mid-November 2024, the family decided to buy a 67m2 apartment with 2 bedrooms for 2.2 billion VND, equivalent to 33 million VND/m2 in HH Linh Dam (Hoang Mai, Hanoi). The couple borrowed the remaining amount from relatives and paid it back gradually.
According to Mr. Dung, although he knows that buying an apartment without a pink book can only be done by a sales contract, which will have legal risks, but because the project has the lowest price at present, he accepts it, because in the short term he will have a place to live in Hanoi and will not have to rent a house.
Meanwhile, for some apartment buildings in the city center such as The Legacy (Thanh Xuan district), the Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment has not yet issued pink books for apartments in the above project because the investor has not yet completed the project's legal documents and sent them to the Department.
Although there is no pink book, this project is being sold at a very high price of 4 - 7 billion VND. For example, a 110m2 apartment with 3 bedrooms is being sold at 6.7 billion VND, equivalent to nearly 61 million VND/m2.
Similarly, at the Golden West apartment project on Le Van Thiem Street, Nhan Chinh Ward, Thanh Xuan District, although the apartments have not been granted certificates, they are being sold for an average of 35 - 45 million VND/m2, depending on the area and location of the apartment.
Sharing with reporters, Ms. Le Thi Hanh (37 years old, from Nghe An) said that after a period of looking for a house, she and her husband agreed to buy a 96m2 apartment for 4.2 billion VND at Golden West apartment building.
According to Ms. Hanh, although this apartment building has been used for several years, due to some problems, it has not been granted a pink book.
"Although there are certain risks without a certificate, because I have a real need to live there, I decided to buy it because the price is suitable for my family's finances," Ms. Hanh confided.
As for the Starcity Center apartment project (D’Capitale) at the land plot marked HH, Southeast urban area of Tran Duy Hung street, Trung Hoa ward, Cau Giay district, buildings C and G are two apartment buildings with prices ranging from 75 to 85 million VND/m2, depending on the location of the apartment. Meanwhile, the remaining 4 long-term ownership apartment buildings will have higher prices, mostly around 100 million VND/m2.
Speaking to Lao Dong reporter, Lawyer Nguyen Doan Hung (Hanoi Bar Association) said that customers looking for apartments without pink books or papers are due to limited finances and need for accommodation. However, home buyers may encounter difficulties as well as legal risks when buying apartments without pink books.
"Since the project has not completed the necessary legal procedures, home buyers may encounter difficulties in transferring, mortgaging or using the apartment to borrow money from the bank," Lawyer Hung analyzed.
