Although they have saved for many years with the goal of buying an apartment in Hanoi to settle down instead of living in a temporary rented room, those are still just wishes out of reach for the couple Nguyen Thi Hai (34 years old, from Ninh Binh).
With a budget of 2.2 billion VND, Nguyen Thi Hai and her husband thought they had many options, but there was no viable solution when housing prices continued to increase.
"When the price of houses in the city center increased, my wife and I decided to look into suburban projects and accepted that we would have to commute to work with a longer distance, just to have a stable house that was ours.
However, the price in the suburbs also fluctuates from 35-45 million VND/m2, even some new projects cost 50-70 million VND/m2. To find a 2-bedroom apartment (60m2) with a price of about 2.2 billion VND, with good quality is almost impossible" - Ms. Hai shared.
According to Lao Dong reporter's research, the selling price of apartment segment in Hanoi is still high.
For example, a 3-bedroom apartment in Tay Mo ward (Nam Tu Liem, Hanoi) with an area of 93 square meters was advertised for sale at the beginning of 2024 for 6.2 billion VND but has now increased to nearly 8 billion VND.
Or at Moonlight I apartment building in An Lac Green Symphony Urban Area (Van Canh commune, Hoai Duc) in April 2024, the price was 50 million VND/m2. Up to now, the price being advertised for sale at the apartments is 60-65 million VND/m2 depending on the apartment.
The Ministry of Construction's report on housing and real estate market in the third quarter of 2024 shows that apartment prices continue to increase in both new and old projects, increasing by about 4-6% quarterly and 22-25% annually. In particular, some areas have increased locally by about 35-40% depending on the location compared to the previous quarter.
This shows a serious imbalance in the product structure of the apartment segment. After a period of continuous price increases, apartments priced above 4 billion VND have become a popular buying and selling price in the capital city of Hanoi. With 2-3 billion VND, people can hardly find a place to live.
According to economist, Associate Professor, Dr. Dinh Trong Thinh, in order to stabilize real estate prices, increasing supply to meet market demand is a prerequisite. In particular, the market needs to increase the supply of real estate projects with reasonable prices and social housing and worker housing.
"Social housing policy is having many breakthrough innovations, especially preferential support policy mechanisms to promote the development of social housing.
From this strong support, it is expected that social housing projects will have breakthroughs, which will be the basis for bringing the supply and demand of housing in the market closer together, helping to regulate housing prices in the market," said expert Dinh Trong Thinh.
Agreeing with the solution to increase the supply of apartments in the market, Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh - Chairman of the Vietnam Real Estate Brokers Association - added that stabilizing people's psychology is also necessary to stabilize the market, when sellers always want to sell at high prices while buyers want low prices.
In a context of scarce supply, sellers have the power to set higher prices. This creates a lot of pressure for consumers, especially those looking for real housing.
