Apartment prices escalate, main supply is high-end goods
Apartment prices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City continue to remain high in the first quarter of 2026 as new supply to the market mainly belongs to the high-end and luxury segments. Although liquidity has improved compared to the previous period of sluggishness, the prolonged shortage of affordable and mid-range housing is causing the market to become increasingly unbalanced, creating great pressure on buyers with real housing needs.
According to the Ministry of Construction, in the first 3 months of 2026, the price of newly opened apartments continued to increase sharply. In Hanoi, the average apartment price has risen to about 128 million VND/m2, while in Ho Chi Minh City it is about 112 million VND/m2.
Data from market research units also shows that the upward trend of prices has not stopped. Knight Frank Vietnam recorded the primary selling price of apartments in Ho Chi Minh City reaching an average of 4,078 USD/m2, equivalent to about 107 million VND/m2, an increase of 11.8% compared to the same period last year. In Hanoi, the primary selling price reached 4,274 USD/m2, equivalent to about 112 million VND/m2, an increase of 38% year-on-year.
Meanwhile, data from the Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS) shows that in Hanoi, the average primary price has reached about 128 million VND/m2, an increase of 28% compared to 2025. Newly opened projects mainly belong to the luxury segment, contributing to raising the general apartment price level of the whole market.
In Ho Chi Minh City, the average primary price remains around 110 million VND/m2, equivalent to the previous year. Meanwhile, the Da Nang market also recorded a price increase momentum when the average primary price reached about 91 million VND/m2, an increase of 10% compared to 2025. The main reason is that the market has seen more luxury projects and subsequent sales phases have all adjusted prices upwards.
High price anchors despite slow liquidity
The above developments show that apartment prices are continuing to be pushed up by the supply structure strongly shifting to the high-end segment. When most new projects are positioned in the high-price product group, the average price of the whole market is also pulled up to a new threshold.
Mr. Nguyen Chi Thanh - General Director of Ho Tay International Building Company - said that an easily noticeable issue today is that the main products are in the hands of about the top 10-20 investors. The source of goods concentrated in this group makes the selling price level often set in a mutual reference manner between projects.
However, according to Mr. Thanh, the market price is actually not based on investors' expectations but still determined by buyers with real housing needs. Because no matter how high a profit target is set, the product will eventually have to be sold to buyers to live in or exploit for rent. "People with real housing needs are the ones who decide the market price," Mr. Thanh emphasized.
This person believes that with the current high price level, plus pressure from bank interest rates, the market will definitely adjust. At the current cost of capital level, investors cannot continue to hoard goods for a long time just to wait for a suitable buyer, but cash flow is the important factor.
According to Mr. Thanh, the problem of the current market is not only in the high-end segment accounting for a large proportion but also in the situation that many projects self-position themselves as high-end. With truly high-end products, investors have clearly identified the target customer base, so they are not too worried about output.
Meanwhile, most of the market is in the mentality of "that guy sold 10, so I also have to sell 10", meaning that the expectation of profit is pushed too high. This leads to many projects being labeled as high-end and thinking that they must be sold at a very high price.
Mr. Thanh said that many projects are not really high-end in reality, especially in locations that are not monopolistic, but still set high prices. When the market does not accept it, adjustments are forced.
In fact, there have been many projects that have maintained a price for many years but still cannot be sold, even have inventory for 5-10 years. According to Mr. Thanh, this shows that truly high-end products have their own segments, and expectations of profits exceeding market absorption will sooner or later be filtered out.
