After many years of saving more than 1.5 billion VND, Ms. Nguyen Hai Anh (Thanh Xuan, Hanoi) wanted to buy an apartment in Hoang Mai, Thanh Tri area. Ms. Hai Anh agreed to borrow more money and live far from the center, even living in an apartment without a certificate.
"The price of apartments without certificates or far from the center has been increasing continuously since the beginning of this year, not less than new projects. There are apartments that my husband and I asked for information about, and after 3-4 months, the price has increased by 200-300 million VND. If we buy an apartment with a price of 3-4 billion VND, my husband and I will have to borrow a lot more and be under financial pressure. That's why we decided to temporarily stop buying a house," said Ms. Hai Anh.
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thang, a real estate broker in Hanoi, said that recently, many customers have agreed to temporarily stop buying houses because of the unreasonable increase in apartment prices. Since the beginning of the year, apartment prices in Hanoi have continuously set new levels. Finding an apartment in the inner city under 2.5 billion VND is very difficult.
According to the latest data from CBRE, the Hanoi apartment market in the third quarter of 2024 recorded a large new supply of approximately 8,230 units, nearly equal to the new supply of the previous quarter.
Of these, only 2 projects have asking prices in the range of 50 to 60 million VND/m². The remaining projects all recorded an average primary price of over 60 million VND/m² (excluding VAT and maintenance fees). The average selling price of apartments in Hanoi continues to increase in both the primary and secondary markets.
The imbalance between supply and demand for real estate is becoming increasingly serious in large cities. In Hanoi in particular, the demand for affordable housing is very high but not being met. This creates a complex and challenging picture for homebuyers, real estate developers, and managers.
According to Dr. Nguyen Van Dinh, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS), to solve the shortage of affordable housing supply, strong intervention from the State is needed.
Mr. Dinh proposed that the State study and develop policies to create favorable conditions for investors to develop affordable commercial apartments, such as applying policies to exempt or reduce land tax and corporate tax. At the same time, prioritize planning approval and construction licensing to shorten project development time, thereby reducing investment costs.
In addition to boosting supply, management agencies need to have policies to support people's demand for housing. In particular, it is necessary to establish housing supervision agencies or committees to strictly handle cases of speculation, price manipulation or illegal price increases.
