Global investment activities gradually regain momentum
The global real estate investment market is recording more positive signals in 2026. According to Savills, total global real estate investment value reached about 250 billion USD in Q2/2026, up 13% compared to the same period last year. Data on transactions under completion also shows that the supply of transactions for the second half of the year continues to be consolidated, supporting the expectation that total global investment activity may increase by about 16% in the whole year 2026.
The recovery momentum shows that the market is gradually overcoming the adjustment phase. However, the increase in trading volume does not mean a return of risk appetite on a large scale. Global economic growth is still positive but not strong enough to promote rental activity to accelerate evenly, while inflation, interest rate and geopolitical risks continue to create volatility.
In that context, recovery is being driven by investors with higher confidence in market valuations and asset fundamentals.
Trading activities are also supported by large-scale individual asset deals, portfolio trading and mergers and acquisitions (M&A), showing that capital is still ready to be deployed when the opportunity meets the requirements of investors.
Vietnam in the changing picture of capital flows
In Vietnam, in the first 7 months of 2026, total registered foreign direct investment (FDI) capital reached 38.06 billion USD, up 58% over the same period. Notably, new registered capital reached 21.05 billion USD, up 109.7%, while the number of new projects only increased by 7.8%. The average registered capital scale of each new project reached about 8.66 million USD, nearly double the same period last year.
The gap between the growth rate of the number of projects and the value of registered capital shows that the increase in new capital flows is coming more from the scale of investments, rather than just from the number of projects.
Besides new investments, channels to access businesses and existing assets also continue to expand. Foreign investors' capital contributions and share purchases reached 6.58 billion USD in 7 months, up 61.6% over the same period.
On the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market, Vietnam recorded 126 announced transactions in the first half of the year, with a total announced or estimated value of about 2.43 billion USD. Although the number of transactions decreased by about 20%, the total value still increased by 14%, of which May and June alone accounted for about 71% of the total transaction value of the first half of the year.
These data show that capital inflows into Vietnam are being implemented in more forms: from developing new projects and expanding existing investments to capital contributions, share purchases and M&A. This also poses higher requirements for the quality of opportunities offered to the market.
Mr. Matthew Powell - Director of Savills Hanoi, commented: "When capital flows become more selective, the growth scale of a market is only part of the investment decision. Investors need to see opportunities with practical applicability, with a clear needs platform, transparent information, solid legality and long-term value creation capabilities. For Vietnam, turning growth drivers into investment opportunities that meet these requirements will become increasingly important in competition to attract capital.
Vietnam has many factors suitable for these broader movements. The development of manufacturing, logistics, technology, services and infrastructure, along with the urbanization process, is expanding demand for many types of assets. At the same time, the scale of new investments is increasing, while capital contribution, share purchase and M&A are creating more paths for investors to access the market.
In that context, the story of capital attraction is increasingly shifting from the scale of capital flows to the quality of opportunities that capital flows can access. The transparency of information, legal clarity, deployment capacity, asset quality and operational efficiency will increasingly affect how investors choose between opportunities, as well as Vietnam's competitiveness in a global capital market that is recovering but becoming more selective.
