For nearly a month now, Mr. Tran Van Duc (32 years old, working in the Cau Giay area, Hanoi) has spent a lot of free time looking for an apartment worth about 3 billion VND, with 2 bedrooms. From online house buying and selling groups to actual field trips, Mr. Duc continuously moves between many suburban areas hoping to find a place to settle down that is affordable.
However, reality surprised him when many projects in suburban areas - which were expected to have "easy" prices - have now increased to over 60 million VND/m2. With this price, the total cost of an apartment far exceeds his accumulation capacity and many young people with average incomes like him.
The more I look, the higher the price. There are areas that I thought were suitable before, but now they are also far beyond the initial plan" - Mr. Duc shared.
Not only Mr. Duc, the story of difficult access to housing is becoming a common concern for many young people in big cities. Although apartment prices are no longer increasing as hotly as in the 2024-2025 period, the price level is still anchored at a high level, exceeding the affordability of most people.
According to a survey by Lao Dong on some real estate sales channels, even in areas far from the center, many apartments are still being offered for sale at high prices.
For example, an apartment in Wisteria apartment building (Hoai Duc commune, Hanoi) with an area of 77m2, 2 bedrooms is being offered for sale at 5.95 billion VND, equivalent to about 81.51 million VND/m2. Another apartment in Thang Long Capital apartment building, with an area of 70m2, 2 bedrooms, is offered for sale for more than 4.5 billion VND, equivalent to about 64.29 million VND/m2. Meanwhile, a 69m2 apartment in Gemek Tower apartment building (An Khanh commune) is also being offered for sale at 4.2 billion VND, equivalent to about 60.87 million VND/m2.
According to the Report on Housing and Real Estate Market Q1/2026 of the Ministry of Construction, apartment prices in major cities remain high, especially in the mid- and high-end segments. Primary apartment prices increased due to high input costs with an average of about 128 million VND/m2 in Hanoi and about 112 million VND/m2 in Ho Chi Minh City.
Notably, in the high-end segment, the selling price is still at a very high level but the trading volume is not active. This shows that the gap between the offering price and the market's absorption capacity is increasingly widening, creating adjustment pressure in the coming time.
According to Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam, in the past 10 years, the Hanoi apartment market has recorded significant growth, with total supply increasing 2.9 times and the average primary price increasing 288%, equivalent to a compound annual growth rate of 11%. The sustainable upward momentum of primary prices in this period partly comes from the shortage of affordable housing supply.
Ms. Nguyen Ly Ly - Market Research Manager, Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam - said: "In the past 10 years, the Hanoi housing market has gone through many different stages, from recovery after a period of economic weakness and high interest rates, to strong growth, stagnation under the impact of COVID-19, legal and credit tightening, before entering a recent recovery phase. Throughout that cycle, the price level continued its upward trend.
In the coming period, when the market expands to areas outside the center and new urban poles form more clearly, we believe that there will be more room to develop supply at more diverse price levels, thereby opening up opportunities for products that are more suitable for real housing needs".
