Ms. Tran Thi Mai (29 years old, working as a communication staff in Hanoi) and her husband have a total income of about 30 million VND/month. After nearly 3 years of marriage, the couple wants to settle down instead of continuing to rent a house with a cost of about 8 million VND per month. Ms. Mai said that she is looking to buy an apartment worth about 2 billion VND in Hanoi.
However, with this budget, finding a suitable apartment is not easy. Apartments with convenient locations often exceed financial capacity, while affordable apartments are far from the center or have a small area.
Ms. Mai works in the Cau Giay area, so she wants to find an apartment about 5-8km from her workplace. However, the one-bedroom apartments she is looking for currently have prices that have reached the threshold of 3 billion VND.
For example, an apartment at the Thang Long Capital project, about 8km from Ms. Mai's workplace, is being offered for sale for 3.7 billion VND for a 2-bedroom apartment, equivalent to 52.93 million VND/m2. Meanwhile, a few apartments priced under 2 billion VND are located quite far away. Accordingly, a 1-bedroom, 1-stay room apartment in Gia Lam commune is being offered for sale for 1.7 billion VND, about 30km from her and her husband's workplace.
Although apartment prices have decreased, they are still quite high, so finding a suitable house is very difficult" - Ms. Mai said.
Mr. Nguyen Minh Duc (31 years old, information technology staff in Hanoi) said that after a period of searching to buy a house, he realized that with a budget of about 2 billion VND, there are not many choices left, especially in areas with convenient infrastructure.
“Initially, I thought 2 billion VND was the budget level to buy a moderate apartment. But when looking at reality, many suitable apartments already cost over 2.5-3 billion VND. If borrowing too much, the debt repayment pressure will be very high,” Mr. Duc said.
According to data on housing and the real estate market in the second quarter of 2026 from the Ministry of Construction, apartment selling prices in the secondary market nationwide tend to decrease compared to the first quarter of 2026. In Hanoi, the average apartment selling price is about 123 million VND/m2; in Ho Chi Minh City about 108 million VND/m2; in Hung Yen about 69 million VND/m2.
According to data from Savills Vietnam, in Q2/2026, in Hanoi, there was no new supply priced below 70 million VND/m2. Since 2022, primary grade C supply has decreased by 28% each year. Grade C is expected to contribute 15% of future supply.
According to Ms. Do Thi Thu Hang - Senior Director, Research and Consulting Department of Savills Hanoi, affordability continues to be the main barrier in the Hanoi market, making buyers more meticulous and sensitive about prices, although housing demand remains high.
Mr. Nguyen Quoc Anh - Deputy General Director of Batdongsan. com. vn - said that the concept of the mid-range segment has changed when the popular price currently fluctuates around 55-60 million VND/m2. The supply is currently mainly concentrated in the mid-range and above segments, in which the proportion of high-end and luxury apartments is increasing. Meanwhile, more than 50% of people's search needs are concentrated in the mid-range and below segments.
This gap is not a new phenomenon but has lasted for the past 5-7 years, requiring solutions to make supply and demand in the market more balanced," Mr. Quoc Anh assessed.
The current market demand is still focused on housing for real-life purposes. Therefore, in the coming time, investors are likely to prioritize developing products that meet this demand, contributing to bringing the real estate market to develop sustainably.
